The Power of Two
by Komodo-Lancer
Summary: Sequel to 'Ten in One.' Ben is living every ten year-old's dream, he meets a superhero who then agrees to travel with him. And it's not just anyone, it's the Icon! But wait, why is Icon not with the Titans?
1. New and Old Faces

**Author's Note: Just so any readers are warned, the beginning will be somewhat confusing. If anyone is wondering why Lance/Icon is currently not with the Titans and why he's in such a bad mood, I can assure you that I will provide explanations later on in the story. This time, I'm going to experiment with a new technique or two and explain the events between _Ten in One _and _The Power of Two _through a series of flashbacks. **

**P.S. I was finally able to decide on a more specific physical description for Lance/Icon.**

By a bustling street in the New York hamlet of Cold Spring Harbor, lay a diner. Within the diner, were a number of hungry customers, each eating and drinking until his or her heart's content.

Seated in a far corner, apart from the other customers, was a teenage boy. At first glance, there didn't appear to be anything unusual about him. His attire was a pair of tan pants and a blue short-sleeved jacket over a white t-shirt. He had a medium stature and a lean body. His head sported a bush of short spiky red hair and a pair of clear blue eyes.

However, if anyone looked at his left wrist, they would have noticed a peculiar object. It was a rather bulky looking black watch that had a green hourglass symbol at its center. This was the working prototype of the Omnitrix and its bearer was Lance Rios.

Up until recently he had gone by a different name: The Icon.

Lance gave an emotional huff before he returned to needlessly stirring the milkshake on the table in front of him. To think, that he had been the Icon. In fact, he had been a Titan, a _Teen Titan. _

Not too long ago, Lance had been recruited onto the crime fighting team that defended the citizens of Jump City. There had been Robin, the leader, who was the famed protégé of Gotham's own Dark Knight and a renowned martial artist; Starfire, a Tamaranean who natural abilities enabled her to fly, wield superhuman strength, and launch bursts of energy; Cyborg, the team mechanic, whose half human and half mechanical body made him a powerful opponent; Beast Boy, the green shape-shifter who could transform into any organism he could imagine; and Raven, an extra dimensional human who possessed incredible power in manipulating dark energy.

Lance had been one of two people who had joined this team of five. As the Icon, he had contributed by using what the device on his wrist had given him. With the mere touch of a button and a few twists of a dial, Lance could temporarily transform into one of ten alien beings, each with natural abilities that were nothing short of superhuman.

Then there had also been Terra—

_Terra…_

Lance suddenly felt the need to go out for some fresh air. Since he had already paid the bill, Lance was simply able to get up and leave the diner.

Walking the streets and sipping on what was left of his milkshake, Lance mulled over past events. Things had been going _so well. _But in one fell swoop it had all gone apart.

How? Why? He and Terra had both defied that man together…

That man. Lance doubted that he would ever get that man's face and name out of his head now.

"It's headed this way!"

Lance nearly dropped his milkshake when someone bumped into him while running past him at break neck speed. He looked around to see that a number of other people were also running past him, screaming in terror. Lance would have asked what was going on if the cause of the commotion hadn't come lumbering in. It appeared to be a twenty-foot tall praying mantis.

Lance was shocked to see the creature. "What the—" he cut off his own explanation when he saw someone mounted on the insect's neck. It was a silver-haired old man with oddly green skin who was sporting an odd colander-like device on his head. It was a familiar face.

"Dr. Animo?" shouted Lance in spite of himself.

Dr. Animo looked down upon hearing someone call his name, "What? You?" The mad scientist was equally surprised. The last time either of them had seen one another was in an abandoned science facility in the middle of a desert.

Dr. Animo glared, "So we meet again!"

"Sure looks like it…" Lance was taking a few steps backwards, sizing up the situation.

Animo's glare turned into a sinister leer, "Then why not stick around? We have _so much _to catch up on, _Icon!" _The giant praying mantis began advancing.

Lance's fingers flew towards the Omnitrix and quickly started working the dial. After he slammed his hand on the dial, Lance was engulfed in a green light. The light faded to reveal a Petrosapien, a large crystalline humanoid, standing in Lance's place. He was forced to leap out of the way to avoid being pinned down by gigantic leg.

"What'd you call me?" Lance was taken aback by what Dr. Animo had just called him. The young combatant dove to avoid a swiping claw.

"You _heard_ me!" snickered Dr. Animo. "You've made quite a name for yourself with your little exploits in Jump City."

A barrage of crystal shards suddenly buried themselves in the praying mantis's outstretched claw. The creature let out a pained shriek and nearly bucked Dr. Animo off as it reeled back.

"Then you should know what you're up against," smirked Lance. The praying mantis let out another angry shriek and charged at Lance full force. Lance was smacked across the street.

"I _do _know," retorted Dr. Animo. "I'm dealing with an awkward adolescent."

Lance picked himself up only to be smacked yet again and sent crashing into a parked car.

"Speaking of which," continued Dr. Animo. "_Why_ _aren't_ you with that little team that you joined up with? Better yet, where's that friend that you had to help you last time—GYAH!" Dr. Animo quickly hid behind his creature to avoid being completely skewered by a second barrage of crystals.

The praying mantis took most of the damage as the crystal shards pierced the front of its neck. It screeched even louder than it had before.

Lance decided to seize the opportunity. He leapt to his feet, placed a hand to the ground, and began growing crystals from his hand to create a platform that propelled him forward.

Lance then directed the crystals so that the crystal platform began to raise him to greater heights. By the time he was within his desired range, Lance was almost eye-to-eye with the monster mantis. Lance leapt off of his platform and high into the air, melding a crystal arm into a blade. He then came crashing down upon the giant insect below.

Swish! Splat!

Lance decapitated the creature with one swing of his bladed arm. He landed on his feet as the praying mantis's severed head and body fell to the ground. Lance turned his head to see Dr. Animo climbing off of his dead creation. After taking one look at Lance's aggravated face, Dr. Animo quickly decided to try and find an escape route.

Figuring that it would be best to simply swallow his pride, Dr. Animo ran over to a man hole. He lifted off the metal lid and practically hopped into the sewer system below.

"Whoa…" said a deep astonished voice.

Lance paused. That deep scratchy voice was familiar to him. He looked over his shoulder and his jaw nearly dropped from astonishment.

Standing before him across the street was a large red four-armed humanoid. It was merely staring at the scene in astonishment.

Lance was equally taken aback. He knew what that creature was it was a Tetramand. He knew what that creature was because he had been that creature on more than one occasion.

But Lance was standing right here as a Petrosapien, not a Tetramand. This Tetramand was someone else! Lance's eyes fell onto an hourglass symbol on the Tetramand's shoulder. It was identical to an hourglass symbol that was currently on Lance's chest. The symbols on Lance and the Tetramand suddenly began blinking red. Lance and the Tetramand were each engulfed in a red light.

The red light faded and Lance felt that he had resumed his human form. He found himself staring at where the Tetramand had been across the street. Standing in the Tetramand's place was a young ten-year old boy. He had messy brown hair and a pair of green eyes. His apparel was a black and white t-shirt and a pair of baggy olive-green pants.

Lance actually let out a small inaudible gasp. Despite the fact that he had never met the boy in person, Lance knew who this was. During his time as the Icon, the Titans had fought a time-traveling thief named Warp. The said thief had abducted Lance so that he could take the prototype Omnitrix that was strapped to the teen's left wrist. Fortunately, a second time-traveler named Professor Paradox had intervened and rescued Lance. In the process of returning Lance to his proper place, the professor had not only explained the history of the Omnitrix to Lance, but he had also shown him the face of a second bearer of the device.

Two Omnitrixes had been created. One had been the prototype, a test model, the one that had accidently come into Lance's possession. The other, the final and intended model, had come into the possession of the one now looking back at Lance, Ben Tennyson.


	2. Meet the Tennysons

Lance had considered this scenario, had dreamt of it, played with it in his mind. Perhaps they would meet by simply walking into each other as fellow pedestrians, meet in the thick of a battle, or maybe meet after intentionally searching for one another. But Lance had never considered whether or not he would be fully prepared for this moment.

Ben stepped forward, making the first move. His face was still etched with astonishment as he made his way towards Lance. Ben stopped when he was an arm's length away from Lance.

"Uh, hi," Lance attempted to break the tension with a greeting. Ben continued looking up at Lance with a stunned expression. Perhaps the tension needed to be further broken. "Hi," repeated Lance. "My name's—"

Ben's face suddenly broke into an incredibly wide smile, "YOU'RE ICON!"

Lance felt his right hand get pulled into a fervent two-handed handshake.

"I'm Ben Tennyson! I'm a huge fan! It's really great to meet you!"

"Y-you know me?" Lance was taken aback by Ben's enthusiasm.

"Who doesn't?" exclaimed Ben. "You're a Titan!"

"Ben!" called out a girl's voice.

An RV had pulled around a corner behind Ben. A ten-year old red headed girl was poking her head out a side window of the vehicle.

"Did you get him or wha—" The girl stopped upon seeing what was in front of her. First, there was the body of Dr. Animo's deceased creation. Second, there was the person that Ben currently had locked in a handshake. The girl's eyes widened upon seeing Lance's face.

"Hey," she said slowly. "Isn't that—"

"It sure is!" Ben grinned and released Lance's right hand in exchange for his left one. "It's Icon, the guy with the same watch!"

Ben tugged on Lance's hand so that the Omnitrix on his wrist was in plain sight. At the same time, Ben flashed his own left wrist, showing his own Omnitrix.

Lance looked between the two Omnitrixes. Despite Ben's enthusiastic claim, he and Lance did not possess entirely equal devices. Ben's Omnitrix was newer looking and more finished, while Lance's was older and more crudely built. However both of the two Omnitrixes still had that green hourglass symbol at their center.

"It's…" Lance managed to find his voice again. "…Nice to meet you too, Ben."

"Hey, Grandpa!" called Ben. "Can Icon have lunch with us!"

"Lunch?" Lance was completely taken aback by the situation. Ben hadn't even known him for five minutes and he was already inviting Lance for lunch.

Lance saw a gray haired man poke his head out from the side window by the driver's seat, "That depends, Ben. He might have something important to do."

Ben immediately looked to Lance. "Do you have anything to do?" uncertainly asked the ten-year old.

Lance had very much wanted to be alone at the moment. He had been so full of unpleasant emotions. But now, after looking back at the ten year-old boy's expectant eyes, Lance was feeling oddly docile…

XXX

Within the hour, Lance found himself seated at a picnic table in Central Park. Seated next to him was the ever-eager Ben Tennyson. Seated across from the two were Ben's cousin Gwen and his grandfather Max. As strange as it sounded, Lance had known their names even before they had introduced themselves. When Professor Paradox had shown Ben to Lance, the time traveler had also shown Lance the family that was currently accompanying Ben.

What struck Lance as just as astounding was the willingness Gwen and Max had shown in having lunch with him. Perhaps the existence of another Omnitrix wielder other than Ben had fascinated them.

Now, Lance was nibbling on a soft pretzel as Ben excitedly recounted the fight he had seen between Lance and Dr. Animo.

"You should've seen him!" exclaimed Ben. "First, it looked like that big bug had him. But then, he just shoots up and _slices _that thing's head off!"

"Gee," mused Gwen. "Sounds like he did it in half the time you would've done it."

"I know!" excitedly said Ben. He was so into his story that he didn't seem to catch the meaning of his cousin's sardonic comment, "He was unbelievable!"

"What was Dr. Animo doing here anyways?" asked Lance. His days as a Titan had gotten him into the habit of inquiring about the details behind criminal activity.

"He was after a piece of equipment that was being exhibited at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory," explained Max. "He managed to break in, but Ben managed to hold him off long enough for the equipment to be shipped out. Dr. Animo then went out to look for it and we went to head him off."

"And that's when you got him!" grinned Ben while swinging a fist. "You took him out like it was nothing!"

"Just…doing my job," Lance awkwardly bit into his soft pretzel. Despite everything, Lance still wasn't completely used to being the object of hero worship. However, he still managed to produce a small smile for Ben.

"So, what are you doing out here?" asked Gwen.

Lance nearly choked on his pretzel, "Wh-what?"

"You're a Titan, aren't you? So how come you're not in Jump City?"

"Me?" Lance's mind began racing, what could he tell them? He couldn't tell them _everything, _he simply couldn't, "I'm…on a recon mission!"

Lance quickly took another bite out of his soft pretzel.

Max Tennyson leaned forward a little bit. There had been something a little too hasty about that response.

Ben however, was none the wiser, "Cool! What are you looking for?"

Lance took his time to chew his food and was able to think of an answer before swallowing, "Just anything really suspicious. I'm mainly supposed to be looking for the big kind of stuff, like a doomsday machine or something like that."

"Is that why you're dressed like everybody else? Are you working undercover?" Ben was noting that Lance was no longer wearing the attire he wore as the Icon.

"Exactly!" Lance decided to roll with what Ben had suggested, "That way, I won't be too obvious," Lance then thought of something else, "Or maybe if someone recognizes me and tries to get the jump on me, I can flush whoever it is out."

"It sure worked on Animo!" laughed Ben.

Lance stuffed the last bit of soft pretzel into his mouth and began chewing again. One part of him felt guilty for not telling the Tennysons the truth. Another part of him felt relief at having avoided truly discussing past events.

Besides, it wasn't as if Lance had told the Tennysons a _complete _lie. The truth was, it _had_ all started with an enemy, a _new _enemy to be more exact. It had all started not too long ago…


	3. Lance's Memory: Kevin

**Time: The Past **

It had begun with an ordinary morning at Titan's Tower. Lance had woken up in his bed as the Icon and not as an everyday citizen. Instead of wearing a set of pajamas, he was wearing a light gray jumpsuit. As a Titan, Icon went to bed in his uniform so that he could be battle ready whenever needed.

"Dude, there is no way I am eating any of that tofu stuff!"

"Well it's better than the stuff you put away!"

Beast Boy and Cyborg's voices were carrying down the hallway. The two were once again engaged in their eternal battle of what to serve for breakfast.

It was Cyborg the passionate carnivore versus Beast Boy the equally fervent vegetarian. Such battles acted as Icon's alarm clock for the mornings.

Icon comically rolled his eyes at the sound of his two teammates. For some reason their argument never got old. He pushed himself out of bed and slipped into a pair of socks and into his boots before exiting his room. Icon walked into the kitchen to see bits of bacon and tofu flying across the room. He casually walked through the war zone to get a glass from the cupboard. While walking to the refrigerator for a carton of orange juice, Icon was able to catch glimpses of his teammates.

At the stove, Raven was heating a herbal tea while Robin was cooking himself some eggs. At the table, Starfire was guzzling down a bottle of mustard as Terra tried another Tamaranean dish that had been offered to her.

Yep, just another morning at Titan's Tower.

"Everyone sleep well last night?" asked Robin.

"We're good!" said Cyborg and Beast Boy simultaneously. The two were still occupied with their battle.

"I had most pleasant dreams," sweetly responded Starfire.

"Slept like a log," said Terra.

"I'm rested," stated Raven.

"I think I did," mused Icon as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.

"Good," said Robin. "Because we've got long day ahead."

Icon sighed to himself. _Long day _meant a patrol around the city that lasted _all day_, and it was the middle of the summer.

xxx

At noon, Icon found himself walking through one of Jump City's parks. The Titans had split up and were patrolling various ends of the city. Icon wiped his sweaty brow.

The sun continued to mercilessly beat down upon him. When the weatherman had said that this week was one of the hottest weeks that Jump City had seen in years, he had not been bluffing.

"Phew…" Icon couldn't help but wipe his brow again. He caught sight of a bench that was rather conveniently located both in front of a fountain and under the shady cover of a tree. Such a sight was too tempting for Icon to resist. He just had to take a break for an instant. Icon took a seat on the bench and took a few deep breaths. He then allowed himself to slump against his seat.

"Twenty city blocks," panted Icon, "And nothing pops up, go figure."

"Mew!"

Icon looked up to see that a small black and white cat looking down at him from one of the tree branches above. It appeared to be huddled up in terror.

"Excuse me, mister?" said a small voice.

Icon looked over his shoulder to see a small boy and girl standing before him.

"Excuse me," repeated the girl, "But Mr. Mittens got stuck up there. Could you please help us?"

The Titan gave a mental sigh and pushed his tired body off of the bench so that he could walk over to the two small children. This distress call might not have been much, but it was still something to respond to. Icon looked up at the cat, "How'd this happen?"

"Mr. Mittens was chasing a butterfly and he climbed up the tree," explained the little boy. "But now he can't get down."

"Ah," Icon nodded in acknowledgement while rubbing the back of his head. He looked at his left wrist to check on the Omnitrix. Earlier, Icon had used the device to transform himself into the Lepidopterran to patrol parts of the city before arriving at the park. Last time he had checked, the Omnitrix was still recharging. Icon saw that the hourglass symbol on the device's symbol was still red. Looks like he would have to get Mr. Mittens down the old fashioned way. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be too much of a climb.

Icon walked up to the tree's trunk and reached out to grab a thick limb. He then proceeded to use both of his arms to pull himself up onto the limb. After Icon shifted his feet into a favorable position on the limb, he latched onto the tree trunk and stood himself up. He repeated the process a second time so that his torso was level with Mr. Mittens' branch.

"Mr. Mittens," gently called Icon as he extended a hand, "Here kitty."

The cat perked his ears and turned his head in Icon's direction.

"Come on," coaxed Icon, "I'm not going to hurt you." Luckily for Icon, Mr. Mittens appeared to be a social cat. The feline leaned his head forward and began sniffing in Icon's direction.

"That's it, just a little closer…" Icon extended his hand a little further so that Mr. Mittens' nose was brushing against it. Deciding to try his luck, Icon began scratching the back of the cat's ear the moment it came within reach. Mr. Mittens started purring after a few seconds. Eventually, the cat crawled towards Icon so that he could better scratch the cat's head. With that, Icon scooped Mr. Mittens up with his free arm and began making his descent.

"Got him," Icon hopped down from the last limb with Mr. Mittens in his arms, "Here you go." Icon held out Mr. Mittens for the two children.

"Thanks you! Thank you!" squealed the girl as she happily accepted the cat. Her laughter quickly stopped however when a loud boom echoed through the sky. The three looked up to see that gray clouds were forming in the sky.

"Summer rains," mused Icon, "You can never predict them…" He looked down at the small boy and girl, "You two should get going."

"Yeah, you two better," said a snide and unfamiliar voice. "Things are about to get _really ugly '_round here!"

The two children gasped in horror upon seeing something approaching Icon from behind.

Icon looked over his shoulder and found himself gasping at the sight of a monstrosity. It was something that he had never seen before and yet he had somehow seen it before.

It was a large bipedal creature that was over ten feet tall. It had four powerful arms. The two lower arms were lean, muscular, and furry while its two upper arms were completely different from each other. The upper right arm appeared to be composed entirely of crystal and the upper left arm was made of molten rock. On the creature's back was a pair of transparent insect wings and odd metallic skin. A striped black and blue tail flicked behind a pair of slender yet strong legs.

The most horrendous feature was the creature's face. It had a large toothy and jutted jaw and gills running down its neck. While the creature had a single large bulging right eye, it had two smaller left eyes. On top of its head was a mop of messy black hair and an angler fish like appendage.

Icon had somehow seen this creature before because the creature's features were all from the aliens in the Omnitrix!

The creature was merely standing in place while giving Icon a sinister leer.

"Wh-who are you?" asked Icon cautiously as the two small children instinctively huddled behind his back.

The creature cockily pointed to itself, "Name's Kevin!"

"Uh, hello, Kevin," warily greeted Icon.

"So I finally get to meet you, Icon…" Kevin's eyes narrowed maliciously.

"What do you want?" meekly asked the little boy who was still seeking protection from behind Icon's back. Mr. Mittens had started hissing at Kevin.

"You wanna know?" Kevin raised his two left eyebrows, "I heard this guy was pretty tough, so I thought I'd see him," Kevin then let out a snicker, "Looks more like a little dweeb to me."

Icon had slowly started backing away while making sure to keep the small boy and girl behind him. He relaxed only for an instant when he heard the Omnitrix reactivate.

Kevin grinned at the sound, "Time for round one!"

Icon glared, "You want to fight?" He carefully made his hand for the Omnitrix.

"BINGO!" Kevin raised his crystal arm and launched a barrage of crystal shards from his hand. Icon's hand had already been moving and by the time Kevin had unleashed his attack, a green flash had blared and a blue blur emerged, sweeping the two children and Mr. Mittens out of harm's way.

In a blink of an eye, Icon arrived to the other side of the park as a Kineceleran,

"Is everyone okay?" Icon looked down at the boy, girl, and cat that were in his arms.

"I think so," said the small girl. The small boy nodded in accordance as Mr. Mittens happily meowed.

The girl pointed towards a certain direction, "Our parents are by the sandbox."

Icon turned his head in the direction of the girl's finger and sure enough a grown man and a woman were waving in his direction by a playground sandbox. Icon rushed towards the anxious parents and gently placed the children on the ground.

"Thank you so much!"

"Yes, thank you! Thank you!"

"No problem," responded Icon as he watched the grateful parents scoop up their children. He suddenly heard a low buzzing sound. Icon scanned the area around him for the source of the noise until he looked over his shoulder and towards the sky. His throat tightened when he saw a small red mass that was getting larger as it flew at him on from high above in the atmosphere. Kevin!

"Get of here _now_!" Icon ordered the couple. Sensing the urgency in Icon's voice, the two parents ran from the scene with their children.

Icon ran towards Kevin's direction in an attempt to draw him away. It worked, Kevin followed suit as Icon then swerved to a more remote area in the park. Icon stopped when he felt that they were far enough.

"All right," growled Icon as the Kineceleran's personality began emboldening him, "You want your fight? Come get it!"

"With pleasure!" Kevin swooped in and used his volcanic arm to send a stream of flames towards Icon. The Titan was able to keep one step ahead of the flames as Kevin landed onto the ground and kept up the assault.

Icon suddenly put on an extra burst of speed and managed to run behind Kevin. He then zoomed forward, leapt into the air, and delivered a quick series of kicks to the back of Kevin's head.

Kevin lurched forward but recovered when Icon landed on the ground. Enraged, he turned around and recklessly lunged forward to grab Icon, who merely leapt over Kevin and bounced off of the behemoth's head. Icon then put a little distance between himself and his opponent.

Gritting his teeth in humiliation, Kevin swung around and charged at Icon like a rampaging rhinoceros. Melding his crystal arm into a blade and engaging his three other arms, Kevin began wildly swiping away at Icon.

Owing to the Kineceleran's speed and size, Icon was able to duck and weave between Kevin's strikes. Using what he had learned during his days as a man on the run, Icon waited until Kevin had just made a swing. Icon ducked and swiftly made his way around Kevin.

Just as he was passing Kevin, Icon swept his tail at Kevin's legs and sent the behemoth stumbling. Icon put some distance between himself and Kevin again, always keeping his eyes on him.

"Okay, maybe you're not a _total _dweeb," said Kevin through his gritted teeth as he picked himself up.

"Surprised?" asked Icon. Kevin seemed to be too humiliated to even turn around and look at him.

"I know you are," Kevin turned his head around at Icon, "But what am I?"

Icon cocked his head in confusion, "What's that supposed to—" He was cut off when Kevin suddenly zoomed at him at a blinding speed and tackled Icon at full force. Icon was sent crashing through a tree before his body went skidding across the ground.

After painstakingly pushing himself back up, Icon took another look at Kevin's legs. Kevin was definitely standing on a pair of Kineceleran legs. Icon had to admit it, he had not expected for Kevin to have that ability. He had just seemed too big and bulky to be able to move that fast.

"Didn't see that coming, did you?" boasted Kevin. "I've got all your powers plus mine!" He then leapt into the air and threw all four of his arms up, "I'm Kevin _11!_"

Icon forced his pain-wracked body to move so that he could avoid being flattened into the ground by four titanic fists. He quickly ran to once again put some space between himself and Kevin. This time however, Kevin engaged his own Kineceleran speed and pursued Icon.

A sharp pain suddenly stabbed through Icon's side. Kevin's brutal tackle had undoubtedly inflicted some damage to his lightly built Kineceleran body. Despite this, Icon kept his feet moving. He would have to try and lose Kevin long enough for him to call for back up.

Icon swerved into a grove. Kevin may have been able to travel as fast as him, but was Kevin as _maneuverable_ as him? Icon twisted and turned past the trees with the efficiency of a hawk chasing its prey through a wooded area. He then reached to his side for the customized belt that had been made for him and grabbed his communicator. All the while, Icon was listening for some sign that his plan had worked on Kevin.

CRACK! SMASH! BANG!

"OMPH!"

The sounds of breaking wood and Kevin's groan of pain were music to Icon's ears. Icon flipped open his communicator, "Icon here! I found something! I need back up! I'm at—" He was cut off by the red flashing dial on his chest. Icon's eyes widened in terror, "Not again!" A relatively short time ago, he had had a disastrous experience like this when he had been running an obstacle course. The Omnitrix was timing out when he was still traveling at a high speed; if he didn't slow down he could wind up a messy smear against something.

Icon set a foot down and was about to set his other foot down to completely cut his run short when the Omnitrix timed him out completely in a flash of red light. Terror seized Icon's chest when he saw that he was about to go down a steep hill.

He stumbled and went rolling down the incline. Icon eventually arrived to the base of the hill, right where a tree was growing.

"GAH!" Icon let out a yell of anguish as his side struck the tree full force. Fiery pain was shooting through his ribs. Icon feebly pushed himself up and directed his attention at the open communicator that was still in his hand despite everything. It was broken. There was a big crack on the small computer screen.

Icon heard thundering footsteps. Kevin was coming, _great! _Not only was Icon now unfit to fight but he was also now unable to call for help. Desperate, Icon dragged himself behind the tree. He held his breath as he heard Kevin approaching the top of the hill.

"Come out!" bellowed Kevin. "I know you're here somewhere!"

Icon swallowed as he heard Kevin coming down the hill to search for his quarry. If Kevin found him there would be no escape.

Icon heard Kevin suddenly stop.

"What?" Kevin sounded oddly confused. "What do you mean? I can still get him!"

Icon almost cocked his head in confusion. Was Kevin talking to someone? If so, who was it? It almost sounded like Kevin was talking to somebody else over a phone or through some sort of communicator.

"Yeah, I guess," sighed Kevin. "It'll be better if I do it when I can see the looks on those dorks' faces. Well, over and out…" Icon heard buzzing and saw Kevin dart through the sky above towards an unknown destination.

Even after Kevin had flown out of sight, Icon remained where he was for a few moments. First, he was still wracked with pain. Second, Icon needed to recover from the shock at nearly being killed. Icon eventually felt secure enough to let out a relieved breath. He then took a sharp intake of breath as he used the trunk of the tree to pull himself back up.

Icon would have to try to get to the rendezvous point where the team had agreed to meet for lunch. Since the Omnitrix was still recharging, he would have to get there on foot. Fortunately, that rendezvous point was here in the park, Icon would merely have to get the picnic area. Icon took a step forward and nearly buckled at the knees from a fresh stab of pain at his side. Perhaps getting to his destination with an injury would be harder than he thought.


	4. Until We Meet Again

**Time: Present**

Lance got up from his seat at the picnic table to throw his trash away.

"Thanks for inviting me to lunch." He seated himself back with the Tennysons.

"Anytime!" happily exclaimed Ben.

"You really don't have anywhere you need to go right now?" inquired Gwen.

"Not for a while." said Lance. This wasn't a lie. At the moment he had no specific destination.

"That's good!" piped up Ben. "I've got a lot of questions!"

"Fire away." Lance rested his head against a propped hand while facing Ben's direction.

"What's it like living in Titan's Tower? Do you have a favorite alien? How about an archenemy? And—"

"Slow down, Ben." laughed Max. His grandson appeared to on the verge of hyperventilating from his enthusiastic questioning.

"Titan's Tower…" The name brought up so many memories and emotions for Lance. Despite this, the teen managed to hide what was inside him from everyone else. "Titan's Tower," repeated Lance more enthusiastically as if reminiscing, "It's quite a place. State of the art equipment, great rooms, food, you name it!"

"Do you guys really use a computer system designed by Robin and Cyborg?" asked Gwen all of a sudden. "It's supposed to be the only one like it in the world!"

"_Gwen_," retorted Ben, "Nobody wants to hear about—"

"They _did _design the system," answered Lance. "So yep, it's pretty much the only system like it, or at least I haven't seen anything else like it."

Gwen folded her arms while shooting Ben a content look. However, Ben was unwilling to be defeated in this battle for attention.

"So who's your favorite alien?" Ben held up his left wrist, showing the Omnitrix. "Mine's Fourarms!"

"I guess mine's—" Lance paused. "Fourarms?"

Ben worked the dial on his Omnitrix before presenting it to Lance. "I'm talking about this guy."

Lance looked to see that the dial on Ben's Omnitrix was displaying the Tetramand, the large and muscular four-armed humanoid. He felt like slapping himself. "Oh! _Four arms!_" How had Lance not made the connection? He then twisted the dial on his own Omnitrix. "Mine's the Kineceleran," Lance presented the alien's image on the Omnitrix to Ben, "It'skind of like a dinosaur."

Ben peered at the image. "Yeah, I know that alien, that's XLR8."

"XLR8?" mused Lance. "You gave your aliens nicknames?"

"Sure did!" proudly declared Ben. "I named every single one of them! What about you?"

"Actually, Ben, I never really thought about naming them," admitted Lance.

"You haven't?" Ben actually looked shocked. "But you're missing out on all the fun!"

"Where did you learn the name for XLR8's species?" Max was genuinely curious.

"I learned it from Starfire," answered Lance, "She's been to a few places before she arrived to Earth."

Ben then asked the question that Lance could've done without. "So, do you have your own arch enemy yet?"

Lance almost froze from the unease that was now welling up in him. He had an answer or two, but mentioning what he had in mind was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. But he simply couldn't avoid the topic. Ben was expecting an answer. As far as the ten year-old was concerned, every superhero had an arch foe to battle day in and day out.

Well, he might as well come clean. Besides, it wasn't as if Ben was asking for any details, he was simply asking for a name. Lance took a brief moment of mental preparation and opened his mouth to give an answer.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Lance was cut off by the alarm of Max Tennyson's wristwatch.

"Sorry about that," Max pressed a button on his watch, turning off the alarm. "Time to go kids, I've got a real treat for you two."

"It's that tour at that museum, isn't it?" groaned Ben. Earlier this morning, his grandfather had been talking about a brochure he had found for a special exhibition at the Museum of Natural History. While this would have been interesting to the likes of Max and Gwen, it was nothing more than boring for Ben.

"I should probably get going then," Lance made to push himself up from the table.

Ben's face dropped. "_What? _You're leaving already? B-but I thought you said that you didn't have to go anywhere!_" _

"I don't need to be anywhere _specific," _responded Lance,_ "_But I _do_ need to go on patrol."

"Will we get to see each other again?"

Lance's throat tightened at the sight of Ben's distressed face. He quickly tried thinking of something to ease the situation. "I-I'll still be in the area. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

Ben managed to pull his face into a smile.

XXX

Staying true to his word, Lance left Central Park to patrol the vicinity. He had decided to get a bird's eye view of the city and was now buzzing through the sky as a Lepidopterran. His eyestalks scanned the ground below him, searching. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing that appeared suspicious or out of the ordinary.

Lance steered himself back to the park. Experience had taught him that the Omnitrix would soon be timing out on him. He eventually reached a grove of trees, a nice discrete place for a landing. Lance landed amongst the foliage just as the hourglass symbol on his forehead started blaring and blinking red. Lance brushed past the low-lying tree branches and scrubs as he made way to one of the park's paths.

He sighed to himself. "Nice job, Lance. You meet a few people who just want to spend a little time with you and you blow it…"

Lance caught sight of a bench that was facing a small lake. He sat down on the bench and mulled over his thoughts. Just why had he done the thing that he had done? Ben had simply asked one more question, why did he have to leave just to get out of answering it?

He heaved a sigh and leaned back into the bench. Lance stared at the bright blue sky for a few moments. Well, if there was any silver lining to this, at least he could say that today's lunch had gone better than a certain picnic lunch at another park…


	5. Lance's Memory II

**Author's Note: This chapter continues where the flashback in chapter 3 leaves off. **

**Time: Past**

Icon halfheartedly fought back the urge to yell in pain as he forced himself to walk along the park's path. He had undoubtedly damaged something when had smacked into the tree down that hill. Hopefully, it wouldn't be something that couldn't be fixed.

He looked down at the broken communicator that was on his belt. Based on how Icon hadn't seen any of his teammates, he was beginning to doubt if anyone had actually received his distress call from earlier on. Icon looked down at the Omnitrix. The dial on the device was still red. There was nothing else Icon could do at the moment apart from continuing his trek.

"I'm telling you for the last time, no one wants to eat _tofu dogs _on _soy bread!" _

Cyborg's irritated voice was like music to Icon's ears.

"At least I know what they put into what I eat!"

Icon hobbled in the direction of Beast Boy's voice.

"Knock it off you two," Raven's voice had cut into the argument. "It looks like it's going to rain. So no one's going to be eating anything right now."

Their voices were getting louder. Icon doubled his efforts. This sent a fresh stab of pain through his side. He was so close, Icon just needed to get over a small hill and he would be in plain sight.

"I wonder what's keeping Icon."

"Yeah, you'd think with ten aliens he'd be able to get here sooner."

It was at that moment that Icon had stepped over the hill. He could see that Cyborg and Beast Boy were standing by a grill while Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Terra were all seated at a picnic table.

"Guys!" It took a sincere amount of effort on Icon's part just to call out. Everyone's heads turned in his direction just as a lighting bolt lit the sky. Rain suddenly began pouring down.

Icon felt his knees buckle. His journey was finally taking its toll on his injured body. He had pushed himself as far as he could go. Icon collapsed onto the ground.

XXX 

"Ow! Ah!" Icon winced as Cyborg tightly bound his bare torso up in bandages. The Titans had immediately gone to the tower so Icon could receive medical attention. Icon was currently seated on a bed in the medical bay as Cyborg continued.

"That guy's name was Kevin, right?"

"Yep, ack!" Icon cringed when Cyborg tightened a bandage.

"How did this happen again?" asked Cyborg darkly. He sounded half in mind to blast a hole in a certain assailant.

"Kevin caught me a little off guard," groaned Icon. "I tried shaking him off, the Omnitrix timed out," He took a pained intake of breath, "And I fell down a hill and into a tree." Icon clenched his fists in discomfort as Cyborg finished applying one final bandage.

A swish of an automatic door revealed that Terra and Beast Boy had entered the room. They had just returned from a patrol that they had been sent on in hopes of finding Kevin.

"Feeling any better?" asked Terra.

"A little," Icon was stiffly laying himself down onto the bed. "A-any luck on finding Kevin?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Robin's checking all of the police reports, but so far no one's found anything. We didn't find anything either."

Icon sighed to himself. "Of course…" A sudden stab of pain made him wince again. "N-not to be whiney or anything, but does anyone know when Raven's coming back."

"You called?"

Everyone turned to see Raven walking through the doorway while drying her rain-soaked hair with a towel. When everyone had arrived back to the tower, Raven had been the first one to give Icon effective medical treatment. She had also been charitable enough to alleviate some of Icon's physical pain. However, like other members on the team, she had also gone on a patrol around an area of the city. Cyborg had stayed behind to further treat Icon. But despite Cyborg's skill, he still wasn't a magic user who could truly reduce the severity of an injury in a matter of moments. And now that Icon's physical pain was returning, Raven was an even greater sight for sore eyes than before.

Cyborg moved away from Icon's bed to allow Raven to approach her patient. She placed her towel to the side and put a glowing blue hand on Icon's bandaged side.

Icon felt himself relax as a cool soothing sensation washed over him.

"You just can't seem to stay out of this place, can you?" mused Raven. Not more than two months ago, Icon had been admitted here after a near fatal fiasco at the tower's obstacle course in which he suffered a severe head injury.

Icon gave a weak smile. "A-anything to get out of work—OW!" He winced after taking too sharp of a breath.

The door to the room suddenly swished open. The room's occupants turned to see Robin entering with Starfire, who was trailing behind him.

"Glad to see everyone's here." Robin faced Raven and Cyborg. "How's Icon so far?"

"For a guy who's fractured his ribs, he's doing pretty well," stated Cyborg.

"So far there's nothing that a little time can't fix," added Raven.

"And you?" Robin turned towards the patient of interest.

"I've had worse…" Icon did his best to put on a reassuring smile.

Robin nodded. "Good to hear. Now that just leaves us with Kevin…I know we've asked you this before, but we're going to need to hear a little more about what happened.

Icon couldn't blame Robin for asking. When he had first been asked about his experience, Icon had been too exhausted and in too much pain to say very much. All he had said before was that a strong alien creature named Kevin who was on the loose had attacked him. Now, Icon was feeling better than before and could give more details. "I had just arrived at the park after patrolling the city. I was saving a pet cat that had gotten stuck in a tree and then Kevin popped out of nowhere."

"Did he say anything?"

"He said that he had heard about me and that he wanted to fight. After I got everyone out of the way, I gave Kevin what he came for." Icon made yet another wince when he breathed.

"He got you pretty good too," noted Raven.

"Yeah," admitted Icon. "And get this, he's all of the Omnitrix aliens!"

"What?" sounded six voices.

"He's all of them combined," explained Icon. "He has four arms, super-strength, wings, super-speed! H-he can even shoot fire and crystals!"

"He's tough we get it," said Beast Boy.

"Which means we'll need to keep an eye out…" Robin was rubbing his chin, his mask furrowed in concern. "Tomorrow, we'll have another look around the city and see what we can find." 

"Except for you," Raven deftly used her fingers to push Icon's head down after she noticed him lifting his head from his pillow. "_You're resting_."

XXX

"I'm actually stuck here again…" Icon found himself echoing what Raven had said earlier. He blankly stared at the medical bay's ceiling.

"At least it's not as bad as last time," pointed out Terra.

"That's true," agreed Icon. He rubbed the back of his head where he had once busted his skull. Icon looked to his side to see Terra and Beast Boy seated at his bedside, keeping him company.

"Do you think Kevin fought you because of the Omnitrix?" wondered Beast Boy. "I mean he could've gone to fight any of us."

"Maybe he wanted to fight against someone with the same powers," suggested Terra.

"Maybe," Icon looked back up at the ceiling. He then thought of something for no particular reason. "Kevin also said that he thought I was a dweeb."

Beast Boy leaned forward. "What?"

Terra followed Beast Boy's action suit. "Come on _you?" _she chortled.

"Guess he was expecting someone bigger," mused Icon. "Am I a dweeb?"

Sitting in the bed for so many hours had made Icon desperate for conversation that he no longer cared about the topic.

"Nah," Beast Boy waved his hand as if to dismiss the notion.

"And even if you were," added Terra, "You'd still be _our _dweeb."


	6. We Meet Again

**Time: The Present**

Lance sighed to himself as leaned further back into his bench seat. Things had been going so well even in that bleak moment. Why did it all have to go wrong later on?

He then leaned forward and propped his head with his hands as his elbows rested on his knees. Lance looked out onto the lake in front of him and saw a mother duck leading a peeping chorus of fuzzy ducklings.

Lance actually cracked a small smile. At least he could still see some of the light that was in the world. Lance looked down at the shallows when some movement caught the corner of his eye. A school of tadpoles were feeding on whatever their mouths could filter through the water. Even though Lance had been caught up in his own problems not more than a few seconds ago, life around him had still been moving on as always. Lance peered closer. Perhaps this lake had more to teach him than he had previously thought.

The reflection of a dark mass suddenly flashed before Lance's eyes. His back stiffened as chill bumps broke out across his skin. Lance sat straight up and quickly looked around. Had he just seen what he thought he had seen? Lance hadn't been able to make out a definite shape, but he had seen two distinct colors.

He had seen black…and copper. Black and copper, Lance had seen those two colors together before. Someone he knew he used these colors. But no, that person simply couldn't have followed Lance here. That person had already done enough to him. Then again, Lance knew from experience that this person was capable of _anything. _

Lance warily got up from the bench and began to walk away, checking over his shoulder every now and then.

XXX

"Nothing like a little bit of grub at the end of the day," Max Tennyson patted his full stomach.

"You mean _grubs!" _groaned Ben. For dinner tonight, Max had served his two grandchildren roasted Witchetty grubs. The family was currently seated at a picnic table that was located next to a lot in a small wooded area that had been set-aside for RVs.

As Ben got up to clear his spot at the table, he could've sworn that he felt the grubs that he had eaten squirm inside his stomach. However, today hadn't been a _total _loss. Ben smiled to himself at a memory as he walked into the Rustbucket with his dishes and approached the RV's sink.

"Thinking about something?"

Ben looked behind him to see Gwen staring back at him. She wasn't accustomed to seeing Ben in such a good mood after eating one of Grandpa Max's infamous meals.

"I still can't believe it…" Ben's voice nearly cracked from the excitement that was still present in his body. "I actually got to meet him!"

"Icon?"

"Yeah!" Ben grinned as he placed his dishes into the sink. "Can you believe that?"

"It was pretty amazing," Gwen actually had to agree with her cousin for once. However, there was still something at the back of her mind…

"Didn't any of it seem a little weird to you?"

Ben looked at his cousin in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, first, he was pretty far from the other Titans—"

"He said he was on a recon mission!" Ben walked away from the sink and sat himself down at the RV's indoor table.

"I know, Ben," acknowledged Gwen. "But didn't it feel like something was, you know, _off?" _She moved towards the sink to put away her own dishes._ "_Like when he said that he had to leave…it almost felt like he was trying to get away or—AH!" Gwen suddenly dropped her dishes.

Max came running into the RV at the sound of both his granddaughter's scream and shattering dishes. "What is it?" he asked urgently.

Gwen pointed at the window just above the sink. "Th-there's someone out there!"

Max's face became serious. Right now they were supposed to be the only people in the area. "What did you see?"

"A face," Gwen's face was unnaturally pale. "It was in the window!"

"You two stay inside," ordered Max. He exited the RV and went around to the other side of the vehicle Max carefully approached the spot that was by Gwen's window. There appeared to be nothing there. He peered closer when he saw something on the ground. It was a set of footprints. From the looks of them, a pair of boots had made them.

Max looked around. The footprints didn't seem to lead anywhere away from the RV. Max's body tensed when a thought occurred to him. Whoever it was had not walked or ran away. Max whipped his head up to the top of the RV and sure enough, he saw a dark form on the roof.

"Hey!" shouted Max. "I'm on to you!"

The figure on the roof shifted and suddenly leapt into the air. Max's eyes followed the figure as it sailed over him through the air. He quickly turned around and was able to get a good look at the stranger thanks to the light pouring from the RV window.

The stranger was adorned in black and was equipped with steel boots. For hands, the stranger had a set of menacing metal claws. On the stranger's head was a black mask with an orange center that had two sinister white eyes.

Max was forced to start moving his feet when the masked assailant suddenly lunged at him.

"Grandpa!" Ben and Gwen watched in horror from the other side of the window as Max was swiftly locked into a round of hand-to-hand combat with the stranger. Ben immediately reached for the dial on the Omnitrix as he began running for the door.

Outside of the RV, Max felt his arms quickly becoming sore as he was forced to block and parry his assailant's oncoming blows. Whoever this opponent was knew enough martial arts to put his own Plumber training to the test.

The stranger was about to unleash another string of blows when thunderous footsteps diverted his attention. He turned around just in time to see the giant red humanoid that was Fourarms tackle into him. After the stranger skidded to a stop on the ground, Ben roughly picked him up with all four of his arms, immobilizing him by his arms and legs.

"All right_, buddy!_" Ben glared at the stranger, "Who are you and what's the big idea?"

"Ben!" Max had just spotted something amongst the trees.

Ben felt a number of red-hot streaks pierce his skin. This caused him to loosen his grip on the stranger, who seized the opportunity to slip out of Ben's grasp. The stranger cruelly kicked himself off of Ben's massive Tetramand chest to propel himself towards the line of trees, landing on his feet in front of an emerging group of identical assassins. Some of the assassins were armed with advanced handheld weaponry that had been recently fired. Others were like the first assassin that had appeared and were empty handed, but were quite prepared to make use of their clawed hands and steel boots.

Ben clenched all four of his fists and shifted into a fighting stance. "All right, which one of you wants to be first?"

The assailants all responded by charging forward. Ben immediately found himself dog piled by most of the group while two began cornering Max. After a few thrashes, Ben managed to get a hold of a few of his attackers with his four hands and began throwing them off.

"That's it!" Ben had just thrown the last opponent off of him. He angrily faced an assassin that was now standing apart from the rest. "What do you want? If you don't start talking I'm gonna—" The assassin suddenly produced a handheld weapon that fired a cable.

The end of the cable latched onto the hourglass symbol that was on Ben's left shoulder. Ben yelled in agony when a powerful electric current began coursing through his body.

"BEN!" Max desperately tried breaking through his two opponents. Ben fell to his knees as the Omnitrix's symbol began blinking red. The assassin pressed the button on his hand held weapon to retract the cable only when Ben had fallen to his knees in a flash of red light.

The assassin moved forward as Ben struggled to push himself back onto his feet. Ben looked around to see that the other assassins that he had tossed aside earlier had now recovered and were now surrounding him. This was beyond bad. Despite the fact that Ben had never met these people before, they had somehow known how to bypass his defenses. Just who were these people?

A clawed hand quickly began making its way for the collar of Ben's shirt. The hand retracted however, when a flying plate struck the back of its owner's head. The targeted assassin recovered quickly and turned his head around to see Gwen Tennyson. Tucked under one of her arms was a stack of plates while her remaining free arm was outstretched. The hand connected to her free arm was brimming with an odd blue energy.

Deciding to redirect his focus, the assassin charged at Gwen.

"Back off!" snapped Gwen. The blue energy at her hand intensified and with one sweep of her hand the plate from the top of the stack she had been holding. The plate struck the assassin full force in the face and a resounding crack filled the air. The assassin stumbled backwards as he clutched the front of his mask in agony. When the assassin removed his hand, Gwen found herself looking back at a mechanical eye that was staring at her from the cracked mask.

Gwen's eyes widened in shock. These strangers just weren't any assassins, they were machines, _androids! _Angered by Gwen cracking its mask, the android leapt into the air and activated a pair of jet boots, propelling it forward. Gwen attempted to launch another one of her makeshift projectiles, but the android came at her too quickly. She was forced to drop onto the ground to avoid being shredded as the android swiped at her while passing by, knocking her arsenal of plates out of her grasp. The plates all shattered onto the ground and the android quickly swerved around to make another pass. Gwen reflexively shielded herself with her arms and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact.

But the impact never came. Without warning the android was rammed into by a juggernaut and sent flying off course. A gust of wind swept Gwen's hair as an odd blur ran past her. The odd blur swerved back around and slammed into the android again, severely slashing it across the back. Gwen opened her eyes just in time to see the android's limp body land in front of her. She stared wide-eyed as the blur swerved towards the androids surrounding Ben and Max.

The blur rammed into another android, and then another, and another. Whatever it was kept weaving in and out of the group until it had displaced every single one of the assailants to the other side of the lot. The blur then stopped between the Tennyson family and the androids. The jaws of Ben, Gwen, and Max actually dropped in unison. Standing before them was XLR8. But this XLR8 was different from the XLR8 that they were familiar with. This XLR8 was larger and the blue bands on his tail had a gray tinge to them.

"Icon!" happily exclaimed Ben.

The androids quickly recovered from Lance's assault and immediately set themselves up for a counterattack. Lance raced forward as a barrage of laser bolts were sent in his direction. He zigzagged out of harm's way and just as one of the androids was about to fire another electrified cable, Lance put on an extra burst of speed and began running in circles around the group. A great blue cyclone engulfed the androids.

Lance stopped running and the cyclone died down. When the dust settled down, the androids were revealed to have all been snared by a cable. The one android had fired the cable in the midst of the tornado and had immobilized its cohorts in the process. As if that had not been bad enough for the androids, the one unfortunate android had also pressed the button on its handheld device that activated the cable's electrical current. The electricity reacted violently with the internal components of the androids, resulting in their destruction in a fiery explosion.

After observing his handiwork, Lance rushed to where Ben was lying. "Are you ok?" Lance's Kineceleran visor raised itself as he began inspecting Ben's body for anything potentially threatening.

"I'm great!" Ben was so excited that he had forgotten any physical pain that he had once had. Lance looked in Max's direction.

"Don't worry about me, I've had a lot worse, believe me," grunted Max.

Lance zoomed to Gwen. "How about you?"

"I'm ok too," breathed Gwen. Everyone then turned to look at the smoldering remains of the androids. Gwen noticed the cold expression that Lance was giving the remains. "Who were those guys?"

Lance's expression darkened. "The kind of guys that you don't want to mess with…" He turned to Max's direction. "Mr. Tennyson! Not to be bossy, but I _really _think it would a good time to move out of here."

"My thoughts too," grimly said Max. He was warily looking at his surroundings. "Let's go, Ben." Max was already helping his grandson back to his feet.

Lance was about to extend a claw to Gwen when the android that he had previously slashed suddenly sprung to life. Despite being paralyzed at the legs, it had quickly used its arms to launch itself at Gwen. However, Lance proved to be the faster one. He raced forward and quickly scooped Gwen up and used his tail to swat the android across the head. The android's head twisted completely backwards and the mechanical assassin fell over dead.

"That was close," Lance looked down at Gwen. "Still ok?"

"Y-yeah, I think so…" Gwen was looking up at Lance in an oddly shy manner. He gingerly placed her back onto her feet. "Th-thanks." Gwen immediately scurried towards the RV, beating both Ben and Max to the vehicle.

After helping hid stiff and sore grandson into the RV, Max turned is head in Lance's direction. He said something that made Lance do a double take: "So, are you coming?"


	7. Staying a Little Longer

"So you've actually met those guys before?" inquired Ben.

"Yeah, and more than once…" Lance was unusually grim. He had resumed his human form and was sitting across from Ben and Gwen at a table in the RV while Max was at the wheel.

"Well, who were they?"

Lance took a deep breath. "They're robots that work for somebody I know. I used to fight them a lot at Jump City."

"What were they doing out here then?" asked Max from up front.

"Probably following me I guess," mused Lance.

"Then why'd they go for _us?"_

Lance folded his hands in front of him in a tense manner. "I'm not too sure. But it couldn't have been for anything good."

"Do you think we'll see any more of them?" Gwen was still feeling uneasy.

Lance bit his lip. "I wouldn't be too surprised if we did."

"Which is why we're hightailing it out of here," added Max. Lance looked out the RV window to see that they were leaving the city behind them. Already, the city lights were looking more and more like small dots in the distance as Max drove further and further away.

"So where are we going?"

"Let's just say we're going on a little camping trip," said Max. Roughly an hour later, Max was driving the RV down a road through a wooded area. After scanning the side of the road for an opening, Max steered into a dirt road that led to a lot that was well into the forest. After parking his vehicle, Max reached under the dashboard and flipped a switch. A panel on the dashboard flipped over to reveal a set of computer keys.

Lance's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing this. "What's that?"

"Just a little security system…" Max began punching in a combination of keys. He then saw the skeptic look on Lance's face. "I can explain later."

Max got up from his seat and went to the back of the RV and began rummaging around through a compartment. After a few moments, Max returned with a sleeping bag and a spare pillow.

"Here you go," Max handed the sleeping bag and the pillow to Lance.

Ben suddenly perked up. "Icon's staying?"

"For the night," said Max.

"If more of those robots appear, I'll be around," added Lance as he laid the sleeping bag in front of the RV's side door. After taking his shoes off he then unrolled the sleeping bag and slipped inside of it. Anyone wanting to get in through that door would have to get through him first.

Max turned to his two grandchildren. "It's about time for you to be getting some sleep too. Lights out."

Ben and Gwen climbed into their bunk bed. Max flipped the light switch as he made for his own bed.

Gwen turned onto her side in her top bunk. Nearly getting cut to ribbons by one of the androids had wracked her nerves, making sleep difficult. Sure she had faced things such as sorcerers, mutated animals, alien droids, secret organizations, and deranged clowns. But there had been something _different _about those androids. Something about them had been so sinister. Gwen rolled over so that she was facing Lance's direction. "Hey, Icon," she spoke softly, "You're going to be here all night, right?"

Lance heard her and turned over so that he was facing Gwen's direction. Even though Lance couldn't clearly see Gwen's face, her voice was enough to reflect her tension. "I'll be here, don't worry."

"Icon's a hero, Gwen," assured Ben. "He's not going to run out on us."

Lance chose at that moment to huddle back into his sleeping bag. True, he had no intention of abandoning the Tennyson family. However, that didn't mean that he had been infallible in the past. Lance shut his eyes and tried getting some sleep.

XXX

Many hours later, Ben found himself waking up to the dawn's emerging light. At first, he was groggy, but he quickly became reenergized when the last night's events came rushing back into his head.

Ben quickly sat up in his bed and turned his head in the direction of the RV's side door. He saw an empty sleeping bag. Ben's heart skipped a beat. Last night had definitely not been a dream! But wait, where was Icon? Ben immediately turned his head in the direction of Max's bed. That sleeping space was empty too. Ben cocked his head in puzzlement. First Icon and now his grandfather. Where were those two?

Ben crawled out of his bottom bunk and looked to the top bunk. Gwen was curled up in her covers, still sleeping. At least one person that Ben knew was still accounted for. Ben walked over to the side door of the RV, stepping over the empty sleeping bag on the floor, and looked out the window. He caught a flash of Max's trademark red Hawaiian t-shirt.

The ten year-old hastily opened the door. Ben saw that Max was walking with his back to him down the length of the RV. "Hey, grandpa!"

Max turned around. "Ben, I didn't expect you to be up already."

Ben saw that Max was holding a large piece of hi-tech weaponry. "What's with that?"

"This?" Max looked down at his weapon. "Icon and I got up a little early to do a some scouting."

"Where did Icon go?"

"He went a little further out," explained Max. "I stuck around here to hold down the fort."

"When's he getting back?" inquired Ben. He suddenly heard something large land behind him.

"Just now," answered Max.

Ben turned around and found himself looking back at a larger and more feline version of his Wildmutt form. Something was dangling from the creature's jaws.

Max looked up at Lance's maw. "So, Icon, what did you find?"

Lance released his hold and his discovery landed at their feet with a thud. Ben nearly leapt back. At their feet were the tattered remains of a masked android, identical to the attackers from the night before.

The dial on Lance's forearm started blinking red and the teen resumed his human form in a flash of red light.

"I ran into another gang in the woods," explained Lance as all three of them stared down at the remains.

Max's hands tensed on his weapon. "I was afraid of that…"

"If it helps, I got the jump on them."

Ben looked between Lance and Max. "So what are we going to do?"

"We keep moving," said Max. He motioned for Lance and Ben to follow him back to the RV.

Lance ran the recent events through his mind. First, he had discovered the presence of the androids at Central Park. Then, he had followed the androids back to the Tennysons and had to help fight the assassins off. And just this morning he had encountered yet _another_ group of the androids. Lance bit his lip in anxiety as he climbed into the RV, Ben trailing behind him.

If these androids kept popping up he would have to reconsider any immediate plans for the future. Lance's attention was brought back into focus by the roar of the RV engine. He took a seat at the door

"Huh?" Gwen was awakened by the noise. She sleepily looked around at her surroundings. "We're moving already?" Gwen suddenly remembered the night before. "What's going on!" she asked urgently.

"_Nothing..._"

Lance looked to see that Ben was wearing an unusually innocent expression while holding both arms behind his back. He appeared to be walking back from the cupboard.

"We're just hitting the road again," assured Max. Gwen calmed and climbed down from her top bunk. She then walked towards the cupboard to go get a box of cereal and a bowl. Ben stifled a laugh.

Gwen immediately looked at Ben. "What's so funny?" she asked suspiciously.

Ben didn't reply and only shrugged his shoulders. Gwen rolled her eyes in annoyance and opened the cupboard. Lance nearly jumped out of his seat when Gwen let out a scream and fell over. Ben burst out laughing.

"Not funny, Ben!" angrily shouted Gwen. She haughtily picked herself back up and went back to the cupboard. Gwen reached in and plucked out a round object. Lance's eyes widened to see that she was holding the severed head of a masked android. When Max and Lance had had their backs to Ben, the ten-year-old had unscrewed the mechanical head from the broken body of the android Lance had brought back and had discretely brought the head inside for his cousin to find.

Ben's laughter intensified upon seeing his cousin's aggravated face. Gwen chucked the head at Ben. Lance heard Max sigh from the driver's seat. Apparently things like this were an every day occurrence. Lance gave his own mental sigh. This was going to a long drive.


	8. On the Road Again

"Dweeb!" whispered Ben.

"Doofus!" retorted Gwen.

"Know-it-all!"

"Freak!"

Lance shifted in his seat at the table as he tried to continue his nap. On the account of not getting too much of a good night's sleep and getting up early that morning, he was low on energy and needed some shuteye. Also, he needed some way of avoiding Ben and Gwen's argument. After spending hours together in the RV, the two cousins were becoming irritable with one another. However, Ben and Gwen had had the decency to whisper scream their argument to avoid waking Lance up.

"Settle down, you two," ordered Max. "We're almost at our next stop."

Lance managed to crack his eyes open. He drowsily looked out the window to see that they were driving towards a rest area. Lance vaguely remembered waking up earlier and seeing a sign saying that they had entered Ohio. He felt the RV swerve and then gradually come to a stop.

Lance began stretching his limbs as Ben and Gwen immediately darted for the door to get out. After emitting a decent yawn, Lance followed the two out the door. He shielded his eyes from the sun as he exited the vehicle.

"Get enough sleep?"

Lance turned his head to see Max.

"I sure did." Lance gave another stretch.

"That's good to hear." Max put his hands on his waist as he began looking at the scene around him. In front of the parking lot was a building dedicated to restrooms and vending machines as well as a field of grass and trees. Ben and Gwen were currently standing in the field loosening their stiff bodies. "Now that just leaves being able to shake those goons off…"

"Yeah…" Lance crossed his arms in anxiety.

"Just how determined are they?" inquired Max.

"Knowing the guy who made them, _extremely!" _

"I see…" Max furrowed his eyebrows in concern. After a few moments, he began to relax. "Well, believe it or not it's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

Lance looked at Max with interest. "Really?"

XXX

"Man, what a ride," groaned Ben as he stretched his back. Beside him, Gwen was stretching her stiff muscles in a similar manner. Ben stopped upon seeing Lance and Max conversing with each other.

Ben let out an excited gasp.

"What is it now?" asked Gwen.

"They're talking!"

Gwen arched an eyebrow. "So?"

"_So," _Ben turned in Gwen's direction, "Maybe he's thinking about _staying _a little longer!_" _

"Icon?"

"Who else?" exclaimed Ben. "I mean, he was only supposed to be staying the night. But he's still here!"

"Ben," Gwen began uneasily, "You might not want to get your hopes up too much. For all we know, Icon might just be seeing us off."

"You don't know that!" retorted Ben. He folded his arms and stubbornly turned away from Gwen. "Icon's going to stay with us, you'll see!"

Ben looked to the side in a discrete manner, "I sure hope so…"

XXX

"Let me get this straight. This was the same guy who survived a _nuclear missile?" _Lance couldn't believe his ears.

"I was pretty surprised too," admitted Max.

Lance shook his head in amazement. "And I thought I knew some pretty tough people…"

"Well, Vilgax wasn't an ordinary criminal…"

"Did you say _Vilgax?"_

Max and Lance turned their heads to see Ben running towards them like juggernaut. The ten-year-old had gotten close enough to hear the conversation and had heard a name that had caught his attention.

"I was telling Icon a little bit about our summer so far," explained Max.

"I've got it hand it to you, I definitely didn't have a summer like that when I was ten," admitted Lance.

"Really?" Ben's excitement grew. Icon was impressed with him!

"Well I definitely don't remember having to fight robots and aliens," laughed Lance. "The toughest thing I had to face was getting ready for middle school."

"_Middle school!" _Ben scoffed._ "_You should've seen _Vilgax!_"

"After hearing how he destroyed part of Mount Rushmore, I don't think I would've _wanted_ to," Lance let out a grim chuckle.

"_You_ could've beaten him," asserted Ben.

Lance felt a lump immediately rise in his throat. "Me?"

Did this ten-year-old boy really think that highly of him?

"Come on, it's not like you haven't fought some tough guys before," continued Ben. He began counting on his fingers. "There's Cinderblock, Plasmus, Overload, Animo, those robots from last night…"

"Ok, you've got me there." Lance bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

"But the important thing is that none of us will have to deal with Vilgax anytime soon," pointed out Max. He then clapped his hands together. "Well, time to hit the road again!"

XXX

Lance soon found himself seated in the passenger seat next to the driver's seat where Max was once again at the wheel. The teen's head was spinning with excitement.

Ever since their stop at the rest area, Grandpa Max had been giving Lance a quick rundown of his family's experiences. As it turned out, Max had been a plumber. But instead of the kind that dealt with pipes and plungers, he had been the kind that had dealt with robots and aliens!

Lance couldn't help but glance around at the RV. Despite being retired, Max was supposed to have stockpiled a decent amount of hi-tech devices in the vehicle, AKA the Rustbucket.

As if that weren't enough, the Tennyson family had faced the very warlord whose droids had once hunted Lance when he had found the Omnitrix's prototype, Vilgax.

Vilgax. When Lance had met Professor Paradox, the time traveler had shown Lance the warlord's face but he hadn't given Lance the warlord's name. According to Max, Vilgax was a conqueror that desired nothing more than to conquer worlds with whatever he could get his hands on. Years ago, Max and an organization comprised of other 'plumbers' would frequently battle Vilgax and similar people to keep them from carrying out their nefarious deeds. After an encounter at an Earth military base in which Max strapped Vilgax to a nuclear warhead that was then launched into a spacecraft, the warlord had been presumed dead.

However, Vilgax reappeared years later and had been targeting the Tennyson family ever since Ben had come across the Omnitrix. Vilgax had even gone as far as to arrive in person on two separate occasions. But in the end, he failed to obtain the Omnitrix. The last time the Tennysons had seen Vilgax, Max had trapped him in an alternate dimension called the Null Void.

Lance actually smiled to himself at the thought of it. When he had first come across the Omnitrix's prototype, Vilgax's mechanical hunting parties had attacked Lance. This had resulted in a chase that had forced Lance to travel across a decent portion of the country. Vilgax being trapped in the Null Void meant one less thing to worry about.

"EYAH! _BEN!_"

Lance almost heaved a sigh. Scratch what he had been thinking earlier: he now had _two new _things to worry about. Lance turned around just in time to see Gwen angrily approach his seat while holding a familiar round object in her hands.

"Could you _please _hold onto this?" Gwen held out the head of the masked android to Lance.

"Sure." Lance accepted the mechanical head. Ben had decided that it would be funny to use the head for another practical joke. Just as Gwen had been dozing, Ben had placed the head in front of his cousin so that she would be in for an unpleasant awakening. Needless to say, Ben had been successful. Now, Gwen needed someone to keep Ben from getting the head again.

"Thank you _so much!_" Gwen was genuinely grateful. She looked down at the head. "That thing's just been giving me the creeps."

Lance let out a grim chuckle. "It'll do that."

Gwen smiled in appreciation and left. Lance looked back at the head and found himself staring back at its threatening white eyes. Those eyes had just about petrified him when he had first seen them. Lance could only imagine the effect that they would have on a ten-year-old.

"It gives me the creeps too."

Lance looked to his left to see that Max was glancing at the head.

"Well, at least it's broken now…" Lance toyed with the head a little.

Max looked back ahead at the road ahead. Signs were coming up ahead. He frowned. According to what was posted they were getting further away from the border between Ohio and New York.

"We're getting pretty far out now," noted Max. He glanced over at Lance again. "This isn't going to be too much of a problem for you is it?" The further away they traveled, the more difficult it would be for the Titan to make a return trip to Jump City.

"It's fine," assured Lance. "If my team needed me for something, they would've called. Besides, I've made long trips before."

"Dweeb!"

"Doofus!"

Lance comically rested his head against his hand as he listened to the two cousins argue. Despite his experience with traveling, it had been a while since he had made _this _kind of a road trip.

XXX

"Well, we're finally here," announced Max. "Cleveland, Ohio!"

Max was cheerfully standing before the RV in a parking lot as Lance, Ben, and Gwen gave their legs a few final stretches.

"So what's there to do around here?" Ben was looking around at the many buildings that were surrounding them.

"I think I've been here before," mused Lance.

"So is there anything to do?" asked Ben.

Lance scratched his chin as he began scouring his memory for something.

XXX

"A _rock and roll_ museum?" Ben was staring at a glass pyramidal structure that was joined to a white building. Behind the edifice was Lake Erie itself.

"They actually made a museum for this stuff?" Gwen found herself staring at the painted guitars that were being displayed on stands at the front of the building.

"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…" Max was beaming at the compound. "I'd been wanting to visit this place. Thanks for pointing out, Icon."

"You're welcome," said Lance. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had just been a suggestion, he hadn't been aware that Max had been such a music fan.

Max then began leading the way with Lance at his side and his two grandchildren in tow. None of them noticed the armored figure that was hiding in the shadows at the base of the museum.


	9. History Repeats Itself Again

**Author's Note: I've never been on the inside of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so I apologize if there are any inaccuracies concerning the details of the museum. **

"The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones…" Lance looked around at the exhibits around him.

"Rock and roll fan?" inquired Max.

"A little bit," admitted Lance. "But I'm not too familiar with the songs, I just know the band names."

Lance and Max were currently viewing a section dedicated to past bands that had been active during the sixties and seventies. Ben and Gwen were observing a collection of exhibits that were not too far away.

"So, when was the last time you visited this place?" Max was attempting to make conversation.

"Well, I never actually visited this place," explained Lance. "I just saw the outside of it. I was still running from Vilgax's drones, so I didn't exactly have a lot of free time."

"I know what you mean." Max let out a grim chuckle as he recalled the days before his retirement.

"Some of these guys are just weird…" Ben was looking at a photo of Elton John in which the musician was wearing an unusually large set of decorative sunglasses and a funky top hat.

"How did he even walk around in those?" Gwen found herself staring at the pair of abnormally large platform shoes that Elton John was wearing in the photo.

Ben turned his head when something caught the corner of his eye. "_Hello. _What do we have here?"

Gwen turned around to see that Ben was looking at another room. It contained a collection of band costumes. Max and Lance heard Ben's exclamation and began walking towards the next room.

"They sure had some wacky outfits back then," commented Max.

"I'll say," laughed Lance. "Did you see that picture of Elton John?"

Max actually chortled. Lance in turn shook his head at the memory, grinning to himself.

Then, just like that, Lance stopped in his tracks. His gleeful expression had become stone cold. He thought he had seen something. Lance turned his head so sharply that he felt that he had nearly snapped his neck.

"Icon, what is it?" Max had noticed Lance's complete stop.

"It's—uh, nothing," Lance quickly tried thinking of an excuse. "I just need to use the restroom, I'll catch up with you guys."

Max shrugged and went to catch up with his grandchildren.

Lance had to keep himself from _running_ in the opposite direction. The truth was he had seen something. It was something familiar. He had seen a glint of blonde hair. Lance almost slid into the main room. He had to suppress a gasp when he saw thin figure exit the front door. Lance rushed at the door and nearly threw the door open. He saw a teenage girl walking away from the building. "Terra, _wait!_"

The girl stopped walking, but she didn't turn around. Lance took the opportunity to close the distance between them. His heart was fiercely beating from his anticipation. She wasn't showing any signs of wanting to flee or fight. Lance hadn't been expecting this but it was a pleasant surprise.

A wind blew and Terra's body suddenly flickered. Lance stopped inches before her. He peered at Terra. Lance extended his hand and made to tap Terra on the shoulder. His fingers passed through her body like water.

XXX

"I can't believe people actually wore those." Gwen was staring at a set of manikins that were all dressed in decorated bell-bottom pants.

"It was a different time, Gwen," chuckled Max. "People were doing all kinds of things back then."

Ben turned his head in the direction of another podium. "Check that one out!"

Max and Gwen looked to see a particularly bizarre display. It was an unusually detailed male manikin that was adorned in gold and black armor that could have easily come from a sci-fi movie.

"That _is _weird," commented Gwen. "Who's that supposed to be?" She approached the display and peered closer, "There isn't even a label on this one."

"Maybe he's a new exhibit," suggested Ben.

"He sure doesn't look new." Gwen was noting the figure's armor. Whatever had happened, it looked like whoever had worn it last had fallen off a cliff, gone through a trash compactor, and then set himself on fire. Gwen actually cocked her head at the manikin. "What is it? A trend for rock stars of the future or something?"

"You're half right!" A sinister smile suddenly spread across the face of the armored figure. Ben and Gwen gasped. This was no manikin!

The armored man shoved Gwen out of the way and immediately grabbed Ben by the left wrist.

"Hey! Let go—" Ben struggled to get out of the man's grasp. The man turned pressed his free hand to a bright lens-like device on his chest. The device fired a bright beam of light that then formed a portal.

"BEN!" Max ran forward and made to retrieve his grandson but he was too late. The man had already pulled Ben through the blinding portal.

XXX

"Wh-what is this?" Lance passed his hand through Terra's for the umpteenth time.

Just _what _was it? A trap? A decoy? Some cruel prank?

Well, whatever this was, one thing was definite. This was a hologram.

Lance felt his hand touch a hard metal object when he passed his hand through the center of the hologram. He cautiously wrapped his fingers around the object to feel it. Terra's image vanished to reveal a spherical object that was floating in midair. Lance frowned and examined it. The object was an advanced looking piece of equipment that was composed of a lustrous metal. From the looks of it, the device was what emitted the hologram. Also, Lance felt as if he had seen technology like this before.

A bright flash of light suddenly blared against Lance's back as an odd noise filled the air. The teen's back stiffened as the light and noise began to fade.

"And now here we—" declared a triumphant voice. "…Are."

The voice had just lost its confidence.

Lance's body tensed even more. He knew that voice!

"Let go of me!"

A switch went off in Lance's mind upon hearing Ben's distressed voice. His body entered fight-and-flight mode as he swiftly turned around. Lance felt his face twist in anger upon seeing a gold and black armored figure forcefully restraining Ben.

"Blast!" The armored man was fiddling with the lens-like device on his chest with his free hand. "We were only sent through _space!_"

"Warp!"

The time traveler looked up from his machinery upon hearing his name and saw Lance.

"Ack! You!" Warp quickly engaged a firearm from his wrist gauntlet. What rotten luck! In trying to lure the Titan away from the Tennysons, Warp had only set himself up for an encounter.

Lance glowered. "_What _are you doing here?"

"It's quite simple, I'm here to get what I came for!" Warp pulled on Ben's left wrist, showing the Omnitrix.

Lance's right hand immediately made for the prototype Omnitrix on his left wrist.

"Don't even think about it!" Warp redirected his weapon straight at Ben's head.

Lance's glare intensified as he tried racking his brain for an idea. As much as he wanted to use his Omnitrix, Lance couldn't risk Warp blasting a hole in Ben's head. He needed to find a way to get Ben away.

Lance's wish was granted when he saw the doors to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame open to reveal Max and Gwen. When Warp had taken Ben, the two had decided to head back to the Rustbucket in hopes of tracking Ben with the equipment that was stored aboard. The had stopped in their tracks however when they saw Warp with a firearm pointed to Ben's head and Lance squaring off against the kidnapper.

Max and Gwen both made eye contact with Lance from a distance.

Lance then decided to do the first thing he could think of: create a diversion.

"So what happened to you?" Lance was noting the fact that Warp's armor was unusually tarnished.

"This?" Warp looked down at his armor in anger and humiliation. "Let's just say that I had a little run in with some local riff-raff."

"The riff-raff?"

"To be more precise, it was a _monstrous beast—WHAT?" _Warp was cut off when blue energy surrounded the weapon attached to his gauntlet and broke it off. Warp looked over his shoulder to see Gwen with an extended palm that was brimming with the same blue energy.

Lance seized the moment and engaged the alien device on his left wrist. Warp saw a green flash of light from the side of his vision and felt a strong wind lash his face. The time-traveling thief looked down to see that Ben had vanished into thin air.

"Hey! Looking for me?"

Warp looked thirty feet out in front of him to see a Kineceleran with a ten-year-old boy tucked under its arm. Ben placed both of his hands at the side of his head and stuck his tongue out at Warp.

"Insolent little—" Warp produced two cannons from compartments in his shoulder pads. Lance easily dodged the shot and zipped to the back of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he deposited Ben. He immediately zoomed off and brought Max and Gwen to Ben's spot in two quick trips.

"Here you go." Lance set himself to run off again, "I'll go take care of Warp." With that, he ran off.

Ben smirked to himself as he fiddled with the Omnitrix on his left wrist. "_We're _going to care of him!"

XXX

"Hold _still!" _Warp was firing away at his target that was now moving at a blinding speed.

"Become a better shot!" mocked Lance as he continued to avoid every laser that was sent in his direction.

Warp gritted his teeth in aggravation and did something unexpected. He stopped firing. Warp withdrew his twin cannons and extended an armored hand, which fire a blue energy at the ground.

Lance was about to take another step forward when he suddenly slipped and fell onto something hard and cold. He lifted his head to discover that the cement that he had been running on had become encased in ice.

Warp smirked. "Your current form relies on manipulating friction for its speed. Without a proper surface your as mobile as a—"

"Hey, buddy! Heads up!"

Warp turned his head just in time to see a three hundred pound Tetramand tackle into him and send him sprawling.

"Ben?" Lance managed to push himself up onto his knees, "What are you doing here?" He had placed Ben at the back of the museum for a _reason: _so that he _wouldn't _get involved.

"I'm helping you out!" Ben looked at Lance in a puzzled manner, "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Warp suddenly sat up and deployed a projectile from one of his gauntlets. Ben reeled back when felt a painful current go through his body as he was ensnared in an odd glowing net.

"_HA!" _A triumphant expression spread across Warp's face, he had neutralized both of his opponents! "Did you honestly think that you could defeat me? I am Warp! I am from the future! There is nothing that you can do to—GWACK!"

Warp felt a strong arm wrap around his throat. Max had crept up from behind him and had locked the thief in a chokehold.

"Let go you—" Warp saw Max produce a small rectangular object with his free hand, "Wait! What are you doing?"

Max plunged the object into Warp's side, sending a powerful current through every mechanical component of the thief's armor. Various gadgets and devices were popping in and out of their compartments as the armor began malfunctioning. The bright lens-like device was actually dimming.

"No, no!" Warp was panicking. How was this happening? How could this old man be beating him?

"Had enough?" Max deactivated the device when he felt that Warp's weaponry had been neutralized.

The lens-like device on Warp's chest suddenly brightened again. "Not yet!"

Max was quickly repelled when a red force field materialized from Warp's armor.

"HEY!" Ben angrily tossed off the net that Gwen had been helping him to remove. _Nobody _messed with his grandpa! Ben proceeded to charge at Warp with the force of a freight train.

Warp almost bolted at the sight of Ben's expression. However, the crook managed to pull himself together at the last moment and reactivated his force field. Ben slammed into the force field with such force that for a few moments Warp was sure that he would be sent flying backwards.

Ben gritted his teeth as he attempted to break through the barrier of energy.

"Haven't you gotten it through your thick skull yet?" Warp sneered. "There is absolutely no way that you can defeat me—" His boast was cut short when his suit began emitting sparks. Max's attack had done a little more damage than Warp had originally thought.

The force field faltered. Ben, who had not been letting up his assault, broke through. Warp was sent tumbling towards the field of ice. He pushed himself up in a sitting position to see that Lance was still trying to get back on his feet while keeping himself from slipping.

"A see _you're _still struggling!" Warp decided to displace his frustration. "Look at you. Just what are you going to do now?"

Lance glared and did something that caught Warp off guard. He shifted a spherical foot forward and began skating towards Warp at a decent speed.

Warp's eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh shoot…"

The time traveler was sent sliding across the ice as he was smacked aside by a twirling tail. Lance skated after him and delivered a second smack that sent Warp straight off the ice. Lance followed and upon reaching the edge of the ice, he leapt into the air.

Warp had just enough time to push himself back up before Lance came down at him feet first, slamming him back into the ground. He bounced off of Warp and ran a short distance away. Warp pushed himself back up yet again right when Lance came back around and slammed into him at top speed. Warp was sent flying through the air and crashed through several of the decorated guitars that were being displayed at the museum front.

Gritting his teeth, Warp forced himself back up onto his feet. He looked down at his armor to see that sparks were emitting from parts of his armor. This battle was getting too risky for him. If he kept this up, he could lose everything he had worked for. Deciding to cut his losses, Warp pressed the lens-like device on his chest and a beam of light formed a shining portal.

"Don't think you've won!" Warp cast everyone a fierce scowl, "This is far, far from over! You hear me? _Far from over!_"

With that, Warp jumped through the portal, which then closed.

Lance zipped over to the Tennysons. The Omnitrix timed out on him the moment he arrived. "Everyone okay?"

"Am I _okay_?" Ben gave Lance and odd look before he was also timed out in a flash of red light. When the light faded, Ben was revealed to be waving his arms in excitement and wearing an incredibly wide grin, "I feel awesome!"

Ben's heart was racing from excitement. _He _had fought with _Icon _in a real battle!

"Are you all right, grandpa?" Gwen had gone over to Max who was picking himself up.

"I'm all right," assured Max as he stretched his throbbing back.

Gwen looked at the ground and saw the device that Max had used on Warp. It resembled some sort of space-age taser. "What's that?"

"An ionic disruptor." Max leaned down to pick it up, "I was holding on to it just in case if those robot commandos showed up again," He looked around, "Now would probably be a good time to get out of here."

Not wanting to attract too much attention from the fight that had just occurred, Lance, Ben, and Gwen allowed Max to take the lead back to the Rustbucket.

"So, who was that guy?" asked Ben as he trotted by Lance's side, looking up at him in an inquisitive manner. Sure, the ten-year-old now knew that the man's name was Warp, but the man himself was another manner.

"Warp? Well, believe it or not he's a time traveler from the future. He goes back in time to steal things that he can sell. I met him before in Jump City." Lance found himself looking at the spot where Warp had left.

"Do you think he was after the Omnitrix?" Ben lifted his left wrist for emphasis.

"Most likely."

"Then why didn't Warp go back to the future when he got Ben?" asked Gwen.

"He said something about only being able to travel through space," mused Ben.

"His suit looked pretty damaged," noted Max. "Whatever happened to it may have prevented him from time traveling."

"Which means he'll still be around," said Lance to himself. This complicated matters. First, there had been the masked androids whose creator that had taken an interest in the Tennysons. That was troublesome enough. Now_, _there was _Warp_ to worry about.

As he climbed into the Rustbucket after Ben and Gwen, Lance began to consider an action that could change everything. Lance took a seat at the indoor table and began to mull it over as Max revved up the Rustbucket and hit the road again. After what seemed like an hour, Lance decided to speak up. "I've been thinking about something."

Ben was the first to respond. "About what?"

"It's about Warp," said Lance. "He's tried getting an Omnitrix before. If he went through the trouble of tracking you down—"

"He'll probably show up again," concluded Max.

"That and we still have the robots to worry about," Lance took a moment to prepare himself, "And if either one of them show up again, you might need some help."

Ben expectantly leaned towards Lance. "What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is—," Lance tried thinking of a way to break it to them, "Would it be a good idea if I stayed with you guys for a little longer?"

Lance could have sworn that he nearly went deaf from Ben's triumphant cry.

XXX

"This is going to be so cool!" Ben nearly squealed like an excited fan girl. Icon was going to be staying with _him! _It was official! Until Warp and those robots were no longer considered a danger to Ben or his family, the Titan was going to be sticking around to give a helping hand.

It was evening and Max was parking the Rustbucket into an RV lot.

"I mean think about it! If anyone else tries messing with us, they'll have to go through me _and _Icon! They won't know what hit them!"

Lance suppressed a chuckle. Ben had been like this ever since the stay had been made official _hours earlier. _How the ten-year-old had managed to keep this up was beyond him.

When Max parked the Rustbucket, Ben immediately bolted out the door to release whatever energy he had stored in him. Gwen followed suit.

"He's staying! He's staying!" Ben was still bursting with enthusiasm as he ran around the open space.

"We _know_, Ben," said an aggravated Gwen. "We heard it the first hundred times."

Ben stopped and folded his arms in contempt. "Aw, come on, don't tell me _you're _not excited too!"

"I never said that I wasn't!" retorted Gwen. She turned around and made to walk back towards the Rustbucket. "I'm just not going around like a big—" Gwen felt herself bump into someone.

"Oh, excuse me, Gwen."

Gwen looked up and nearly jumped a foot back upon seeing Lance's face.

"S-sorry, Icon!" Gwen suddenly went around Lance and ran past him. The Titan looked after her in a puzzled manner.

"This is going to be _so cool!"_

Lance turned his head to see Ben standing before him.

"Think of all the stuff we'll be able to do together!" Ben seemed on the verge of hopping up and down. "Man, no one at my school would believe this!"

Lance cocked his head. "Really?"

"Come on, you're _Icon!"_ exclaimed Ben. "Who'd believe that you'd be hanging out with _me?"_

"Well…" Lance tried to think of something, but the ten-year-old had a point.

Ben suddenly shifted into a fighting position and began throwing punches into the air. "Do you think you'll be able to show me some of your moves sometime?"

Lance looked down at Ben in amusement as an odd feeling began welling up in him. It was a warm and pleasant emotion that was filling him from head to toe. Lance realized that he was feeling _happy. _A few days earlier he would never have guessed that he would be feeling that emotion again so soon. And it was all because of one ten-year-old boy's joyful enthusiasm. It had shown Lance that there was still a little light in the world.

Another thought occurred to Lance. As long as he was staying with the Tennysons, maybe he could be the Icon for just a little longer…


	10. Training

**Author's Note: I'm back! This no thanks to a busy academic schedule and writer's block. **

"Okay, now let's begin!" exclaimed Icon as he clapped his hands together. He was currently standing before Ben in a large clearing in a wooded area. Icon had decided that as long as the likes of Warp and the androids were still roaming about, he could at least teach Ben a few new tricks to defend himself with.

Ben looked like he was going to explode with excitement. "So, what are we going to do first?"

Icon pondered for a bit. "We might as well see what you can do so far. Which alien would you like to start out with?"

Ben immediately transformed into a Tetramand.

"All right," chuckled Icon as he looked up at Ben in amusement. "We'll go with Fourarms."

Icon fiddled with his own Omnitrix and assumed his own Tetramand form. He found himself to be a good head taller than Ben.

"Okay, Ben, come at me!" Icon shifted himself into a fighting stance and beckoned to the ten-year-old.

Ben looked uncertain at first. The thought of attacking Icon seemed to be unsettling him. However, one confident look from Icon gave Ben all the assurance he needed. Ben rushed forward and started things off by swinging his two right fists.

Icon sidestepped and avoided the blow. Ben turned and delivered another swing. Icon quickly raised two of his arms to block the blow.

Summoning whatever power he had in his legs, Icon leapt backwards and landed a decent distance away.

Ben followed suit and leapt after Icon. The moment his feet touched the ground, Ben quickly reengaged the Titan in another melee.

"I've got to hand it you, Ben. You've got spunk!" Icon was actually forced to start applying himself to block Ben's blows.

"_Really?" _Ben actually felt his heart skip a beat.

"Really!"

The two grappled each other's hands and began pushing against the other.

"You've just got to work on a few things."

Ben expectantly leaned his head forward. "Like what?"

Ben's stomach lurched when Icon suddenly fell over onto his back and dragged the ten-year-old with him. Icon proceeded to shift his feet onto Ben's stomach and pushed while releasing his hold on Ben's hands. Ben landed flat on his back a few feet away from Icon.

"Wow!" Even in his current position Ben was still managing to crack a smile. Icon got back to his feet while dusting his hands.

"Fifth day on the run," stated Icon. "I got cornered by a giant robot and I ripped its arm off."

"Whoa!" Ben's eyes widened in astonishment.

"I was pretty surprised too," admitted Icon.

"What else did you learn?" eagerly asked Ben as he scrambled back to his feet.

Icon folded three of his arms behind his back and shifted his feet into a stance. "I'll show you…"

Ben grinned at the sight of Icon's beckoning hand.

XXX

Inside the Rustbucket, Max was fine-tuning a piece of equipment.

BAM!

Max almost dropped what he was working on. He then resumed his activity, shaking his head in amusement. Ever since Icon and Ben had gone off to that one spot in the forest there had been a loud racket every now and then. Judging from the noises, the two were hard at work.

XXX

Back at the clearing, Ben had just been sent sailing through the air. He fell to the ground with a tremendous thud.

"Whoa! Are you all right?" fretfully asked Icon. He hadn't meant to use the amount of force that he had just used on Ben.

"I'm ok!" assured Ben as he pushed himself back up.

"You sure?"

Ben responded by launching himself at Icon again. Icon proceeded to move backwards and parry Ben's oncoming blows. Ben seemed to still to have some stamina left but he was attacking with less energy than before.

"I think I see where we need to work on," noted Icon.

"Where?" Ben made another swing with two of his arms. Icon used two of his own arms to brush Ben's attack aside and delivered a well-placed strike at the center of Ben's chest. Ben toppled over backwards as the hourglass symbols on both Ben and Icon began blinking red. The two each reassumed their human forms in flashes of red light.

"Phew!" Ben allowed himself to continue lying on the cool grass beneath him. Icon was supporting himself with his knees but was panting less heavily than Ben.

"Your pace," breathed Icon. "You need to work on your pace. Unless you work on it, you're going to burn out."

"Got any ideas?" Ben propped himself up with his elbows.

Icon sat himself down. "We'll wait for our Omnitrixes to recharge. I'll try to think of something."

"O-okay…" Ben fell back onto the grass.

Icon took the time to start thinking about the next phase of their training session. How could he help Ben to hone his skill? The ten-year-old was still reckless and lacked foresight. He would have to try and show Ben how to better time and plan his attacks.

Icon scratched his chin while contemplating his next decision. Maybe he could provide Ben with some sort of target…

A beep eventually brought Icon's attention back to his surroundings.

"I'm recharged," announced Icon.

A second beep went off.

"Me too!" Ben excitedly scrambled to his feet.

"Already? You sure?"

"_Positive!" _Ben was quickly engaging his Omnitrix.

Icon looked on, astounded at Ben's resiliency. A few moments ago, the ten-year-old was flat on his back, down and out. Now, he was back on his feet.

"So, are we still going with Fourarms?"

Icon was trying to remember if he had ever been this energetic as a ten-year-old when an idea struck him. "Actually, Ben, _you _choose Fourarms. I'm going to try something a little different this time."

Two flashes of green light permeated the atmosphere. After the lights faded, Ben found himself as a Tetramand that was looking down at a Lepidopterran.

Icon took flight into the air. "All right, Ben, try and hit me."

Ben obeyed and lunged forward, throwing two massive fists at Icon. Icon zoomed backwards and the attack missed by a mile.

Undeterred, Ben struck out again. And again, Icon dodged. Ben then attacked a third time, a fourth time, a fifth time, a sixth time, a seventh time, and an eighth time. The ten-year-old soon found himself having to use his knees support himself as he tried to catch his breath.

"Pace, Ben," reminded Icon as he hovered back towards Ben. "You're going to burn out again."

Ben nodded in acknowledgement.

"You've gotta time your attacks. Try getting me when you know you can get a sure-fire hit. Got it?"

"Got it!" exclaimed Ben. Icon zoomed backwards as Ben launched himself into battle again. Icon found himself pleasantly surprised when he found himself dodging attacks more narrowly than before. Ben seemed to have taken the advice to heart and was now striking in a less sporadic manner.

"That's it, Ben! You're getting it!" Icon was becoming caught up in the excitement of his own training session. "Keep this up, and you'll—"

Icon was cut off when a titanic hand slammed into his body and sent him flying back into a tree trunk. He then slid to the ground.

"BEN! What the heck are you doing?"

Icon pushed himself up while rubbing the back of his head to see a furious Gwen Tennyson bursting onto the scene.

"We're training!"

"So you fly swatted him?"

"He said for me to—Hey, _wait…_" Ben gave Gwen a suspicious look, "What are _you _doing here?"

"M-me?" Gwen suddenly looked flustered. "I was just taking a walk that's all." Her unease quickly dissipated however when she heard a groan. The redhead turned to see a certain Lepidopterran getting back on his feet.

"Icon!" Gwen panicked. "Are you—"

"I'm ok," assured Icon as he stretched his limbs.

"You sure?"

Icon answered by flying into the air at top speed.

"_See, _Gwen," Ben folded his arms in a satisfied manner, "He can dish it out!"

"Well, ok," Gwen seemed to finally concede. "I'll just go now."

Just as she made to move out of the clearing, Gwen moved close to a rotting tree. A strong wind suddenly picked up and rocked the tree.

"GWEN, LOOK OUT!"

A limb broke off from the tree and came hurtling down upon her. Ice filled the bodies of Ben and Icon as the two moved forward in attempts to stop what was happening before them. The tree limb suddenly stopped in midair.

Ben skidded to a stop while Icon halted in midflight. The tree limb was being suspended in midair by a light blue energy that was emanating from Gwen's outstretched hand. Two sighs of relief were emitted as Gwen tossed the tree limb aside.

"Say Gwen," inquired Icon as he hovered closer. "What exactly is that?"

Sure, he had seen Gwen perform this before, but he had never really taken the time to get to know just _what _it was.

"This?" Gwen held her glowing hand out for emphasis, "It's magic."

"Magic, huh?" Icon peered closer. Not too long ago, Icon would have reacted more strongly at being presented with such a thing. However, recent experiences now made something as bizarre as magic seem like an everyday occurrence.

Gwen's eyes brightened at Icon's interest. "I can do even more of it!"

Icon hovered backwards, his arms folded. "I'd like to see it."

XXX

Hours later, Icon found himself plopping down onto one of the cushioned seats around the indoor table. His muscles were throbbing in discomfort. Icon thought he knew what he was getting into when he decided to try and become a coach for Ben.

"So, what're we going to do tomorrow?" piped Ben as he hopped next to Icon. "Are we going to go for Wildmutt? How about Heatblast—"

"Icon's going to be using Heatblast with _me_, Ben!" Gwen suddenly popped up on the side opposite from her cousin's. "He's going to help me to work on channeling energy."

Icon gave his umpteenth mental sigh of the day. What he hadn't counted on was taking _two _protégés who were each competing for his attention. Over the course of the day, he had consumed most of his physical and mental power in juggling between the two.

"Dinner's ready!"

Icon couldn't help but feel gratitude at the sound of Max's announcement. First, this diverted Ben and Gwen's attentions to something else. Second, now that Max mentioned it, today had made Icon rather hungry.

Icon pushed himself off from his cushioned seat and made to follow Ben and Gwen out of the RV. The three sat themselves along a picnic table as Max set a large plate down. Ben and Gwen immediately recoiled in horror. Steaming in front of them was a steaming plate of Witchetty grubs.

"Again!" Ben's face appeared to turning as green as the Omnitrix.

"I still had enough left over for roasting," said Max. It was then Max's turn to be surprised when Icon casually served himself a helping of the grubs. He was even more astonished when he saw Icon place one of the grubs into his mouth and begin chewing. Few people had ever accepted his dishes like this.

"You eat this stuff?" asked an aghast Gwen. "Since when?"

"Since Starfire started making lunch…" Icon would have laughed out loud at the explanation if there hadn't been other memories associated with it.


	11. Icon's Memory: Home Alone

Time: Past

Icon forced himself to swallow another serving of one of Starfire's homemade meals. As he set the serving bowl down he made too sharp of a movement and winced in pain. Now that he was back on bed rest, he had been made to resume a diet that consisted of Starfire's generous offerings.

He leaned back into the couch in front of the television. Well, at least he was now allowed out of the medical bay. Icon sighed as he flipped through some channels. Normally, he would have found a little time on the couch to be relaxing. But with Kevin on the loose, being down on the job was the last thing Icon wanted.

"Anything good on?"

Icon turned to see Beast Boy approaching the couch.

"I think there was an old monster movie marathon somewhere," mused Icon. A sharp breath suddenly caused Icon to wince in discomfort.

Beast Boy sat up a little straighter. "You okay?"

"I-I'm okay…" answered Icon through gritted teeth. Despite the amount of time that had gone between the present and his fight between Kevin, Icon was still in a decent amount of discomfort. Every now and then the pain would return with a vengeance before receding again.

"You don't _look _okay." Beast Boy was noting Icon's clenched teeth and pained expression.

"I-It's nothing I can't handle…" Icon did his best to try and pull his face back into a more relaxed expression. "I handled this kind of stuff last time."

"Didn't the Omnitrix help too? After you used it, you got a lot better and Raven was able to fix you up."

"Hey, that's right," Icon perked up a little. When Icon had fractured his skull after his fiasco at the Tower obstacle course, he had been in the worst shape he had ever been in. But when Plasmus had invaded the tower, Icon had been forced to use the Omnitrix. After transforming into an alien and back, his injuries had been reduced to the point that Raven was able to successfully treat him. Icon looked down at his left wrist. "Maybe if I use it again, I could—"

"Don't even think about it," said a monotone yet somehow miffed voice. Icon hesitantly looked over his shoulder to see Raven looking down at him in a stern fashion, her arms folded.

"Th-think about what?" Icon quickly hid his left arm away. He couldn't help but feel like a small child that had gotten its hand caught in the cookie jar.

Raven's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "You're going to recover the old-fashioned way, _without _alien technology that we all hardly know anything about."

"It's just that last time—" began Icon.

"Just because using the Omnitrix helped you get better last time doesn't mean you can go around pushing your luck," stated Raven. "Got it?"

"Yes," said Icon abashed.

"Good." Raven nodded in approval.

Icon sank back into his seat with a sigh.

Raven's face softened. "Look, I know Kevin's still on your mind, but working yourself up about it isn't going to help."

"Yeah, I know," sighed Icon.

"You'll get him next time," assured Beast Boy.

"Hope so—OW!" Icon yelped in pain after attempting to stretch his arms.

"Would you like me to have another look at you?"

Icon did everything in his power to turn his head towards Raven without screaming from the fiery sensation that was torturing his side. "Y-yes please…"

Raven walked around from the back of the couch so that she could sit beside Icon. She placed a glowing hand on Icon's injured side and began her ministrations.

"Thanks," breathed Icon. His body started to relax as the pain began to ebb away.

"Don't mention it," said Raven. Any tranquility that was present in her patient was quickly eliminated when the alarm suddenly went off. "We'll continue this later." With that, she levitated herself off the couch and flew off.

"Titans, go!" barked Robin as he passed through the common room in the process of exiting the building.

Beast Boy turned to Icon. "Tell me if you find anything good on!" He then transformed into an eagle and flew after the rest of the team.

"I will!" responded Icon as he watched everyone leave to attend to the situation that now demanded their attention. "See you guys…"

Icon then turned his attention back to the television and decided to heed the advice of his friends and try taking it easy. He resumed using the remote to flip through the channels.

_Guess I could watch that old monster movie marathon._ Icon thought to himself. He typed in a few digits on the remote and the television was soon displaying the black and white images of cheesy-looking monsters. _Beast Boy and Terra would love this. _The corner of Icon's mouth twitched in amusement at the thought. He inadvertently looked around at the empty couch before looking about the room.

The Tower was certainly much more quiet now that he was the only occupant. No sounds of Cyborg tinkering with machinery, no Starfire asking Robin more about Earth, no Beast Boy doing his best to amuse Terra, no Raven chanting some sort of mantra…

Icon couldn't help but feel a tad bit lonely. He had become so used to having the team around. Icon heaved a small sigh before returning his attention to the television. At the moment, a classic macho man was battling a werewolf with his bare hands as a screaming lady watched.

As cliché as the scene was, Icon actually found himself envying the man in the movie. Sure, the whole scene was an act, but at least the man was on his feet and appeared to be doing something. Being restricted to the Tower until he recovered was beginning to make Icon stir crazy.

Leaning back into the couch he only gave the movie half of his full attention as he allowed his mind to start wandering. It wasn't long before Icon found himself daydreaming to escape his boredom and solitude.

What he would give to be back at full health and to be out there with his teammates, battling against one of the many terrors that threatened the peace of Jump City. Maybe now would be a good time to start planning some new strategies for any upcoming fights with Kevin.

Icon closed his eyes as he began racking his brain for ideas. _Let's see, Kevin said that he had all of my powers plus his. Kevin 11. Got to give him credit for coming up with that name… I was able to use the Kineceleran pretty well against him, he wasn't able to land a hit on me with its speed. But when he used his speed he did get me. I wasn't able to last too long after that, I'm going to need something that can take more of a hit. The Petrosapien or Pyronite would work, they're practically rocks! Yeah! Next time I see Kevin, I'll go for one of those two—_

**_Aren't you forgetting about one of the others…?_**

Icon almost bolted upright. He looked around the room, searching for…he did not know what he was searching for. Icon gently rubbed the side of his head. For a moment, he could have sworn that he had heard a voice. Sure, when he delved into memories the sounds associated with such memories would sometimes play in his head and there had also been multiple occasions when he had played songs in his head for entertainment. There were even times when he was half asleep and dreamt that he was being spoken to. But the voice Icon had just heard in his head didn't seem to have come from the depths of his mind. It was almost as if there had been a second person in his head.

"That was weird…" murmured Icon to himself. He looked back at the television screen to see that the old monster movie marathon was still playing. "Maybe I need to take a break from this."

Icon used the remote to turn off the television. He proceeded to rub his temple. Perhaps looking out of one of the windows would clear his mind. Icon gently pushed himself up from the couch and walked over to one of the grand windows of the tower. The sight of a clear blue sky and an equally beautiful ocean greeted him.

"Looks like a nice day out…" Icon couldn't help but place a hand on the window. Oh, what he'd give to be out there having a swim in the ocean as a Pisciss Volann, darting through the warm waters. Or maybe he could be out there flying through the air as a Lepidopterran, having the warmth sun of the sun gently come down onto his body with cool air sweeping across him.

"I can see myself out there right now," chuckled Icon softly to himself. His small laugh died when something in the sky caught his eye. Icon peered closer and was half in mind to leap a yard backwards. Right now, he _was_ seeing something resembling him flying in the sky. However, what was currently in the sky was too large to be a Lepidopterran. Icon's throat tightened when he saw that the flying object was definitely flying in his direction. Icon could almost see a sickening smile spreading across a twisted face.

It was Kevin.


	12. Icon's Memory: House Call

Time: Past

"Oh, _SNAP!" _ A horrified Icon took a few steps from the window and ran towards the couch, ignoring the pain in his side and practically diving behind the piece of furniture.

A large crash shook the room and pieces of broken glass flew about.

"Dweeby," called a snide voice. "I'm _HOOOOME!" _

"Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, _snap!_" whispered Icon under his breath. He could hardly believe the situation he was in. Icon was still in no condition to fight and he was home alone with _Kevin 11! _This was even worse than when Plasmus had invaded the home! Sweat was actually breaking out on Icon's skin. He would have to think of something fast.

_Maybe if I'm quiet enough, I can sneak past Kevin and get to a safe place to call for help. _Deciding to try his luck, Icon began to inch along the back of the couch, keeping his head low and ducking out of sight. He was about to place another foot gingerly forward when, much to his horror, the entire couch was suddenly lifted from the floor and flung across the room. Icon looked up to see Kevin looking down at him with a sinister leer.

"Hiya," greeted Kevin in a malicious manner.

"Kevin!" Icon's voice almost came as a squeak. Icon was _so dead!_

"Thought you'd want another round. I went out in the city, but you weren't there," Kevin's eyes narrowed menacingly, "So I thought I'd drop by your house."

Icon had just pushed himself into a more upright position and was about to attempt to run when Kevin swiped at him with one of his lower arms. Icon yelled in agony when a claw swiped his still injured side, shearing a portion of his jumpsuit off. Still attempting to put some space between Kevin and himself, Icon pushed himself back up again. Again, Kevin blocked him off, this time smacking across the back with such force that he was sent rolling straight into the kitchen.

"Oh gee, I'm sorry," Kevin was giving a mock apology, "_Did that hurt?" _

Icon struggled to move himself behind a counter, doing everything in his power to keep himself from screaming from the intense physical pain he was in. He could hear Kevin slowly lumbering towards the kitchen area.

"Come on, what happened to the dweeb from round one? You know, the one that wasn't so _wimpy_?"

Icon found himself having to hop to avoid the impact of two of Kevin's massive arms as they came crashing down onto the counter, smashing it to pieces. The room shook and the forced caused cabinets to swing open and have their contents spill and roll onto the floor.

It was now apparent that Kevin was merely toying with Icon. Simply finishing him off in his weakened state would be too simple for Kevin. The assailant seemed to be getting some sort of twisted enjoyment from dragging the fight out.

Icon desperately wracked his brain for a plan. Icon was currently unarmed and would stand as much of a chance as a butterfly in snowstorm if he attempted to fight in his human form against Kevin. But if he transformed using the Omnitrix, he might still retain his injuries and still be at some sort of disadvantage against Kevin. While transforming into an alien and back while being injured had ended favorably for Icon once before, there was no guarantee that the same thing would happen again. Icon would have to fall back onto his first plan and try to find a way to escape from Kevin and call for help.

After looking around in panic, Icon was struck by inspiration when he caught sight of a cylinder cardboard container that had rolled close to him. It read 'Salt'. He quickly grabbed the container and began opening it as he heard Kevin lumbering towards him again.

"_Heh!" _laughed Kevin. "You know, for one of those Titans, you're about to go out like a real—_GYEAAAH!" _

Icon had just hurled the contents of the salt container at Kevin's eyes. Kevin was howling in pain and clutching his eyes in agony. Icon seized the moment, half running and half limping towards the door. He had just made it past the door and succeeded in making it ten-feet away before collapsing. Icon tried to pick himself back up, but his body was wracked with intense pain. It was exhausting him.

"GRRRRAGH! THAT'S IT, ICON!" Kevin's voice was booming through the door and walls, "WHEN I GET YOU, YOU'RE _DEAD! _YOU HEAR ME? _DEAD!_"

Icon couldn't help but swallow as he heard Kevin continue raging. He had done it this time. There was no doubt that Kevin wanted nothing more than to tear Icon apart limb from limb for that stunt that had just been pulled.

Kevin was going to recover from the salt in his eyes soon, and Icon wouldn't be able to move quickly enough to escape. He would have to risk making a stand and fight.

Icon began working the Omnitrix dial. _I'll just go with what I had planned. The Pyronite or the Petrosapien. Whichever one I get to first—_

**_There is a third option…_**

Icon froze for two reasons. First, that strange feeling of another voice had returned. Second, a new idea had entered his head just as suddenly as the 'other voice' had appeared. Icon looked at the alien form that was currently being displayed for an instant and slammed the dial with his right hand. Kevin crashed through the automatic door the moment a flash of green light enveloped Icon's body.

"_There _you are you little—" began Kevin. He stopped when he found himself looking at an empty space. "All right, what are you trying to pull here?" bellowed the behemoth. "Don't bother hiding! I'll just turn this place inside out until I get you!"

"No need for that," said an eerie voice.

Kevin looked over his shoulder just in time to see a pale mass of protoplasm that was an Ectonurite flying toward him at top speed.

Gathering both of his hands into a fist, Icon struck Kevin as he flew past him. Kevin actually stumbled from the force of the blow. Icon swiftly made a u-turn and struck Kevin again in the same manner as before. Kevin was knocked over this time.

Snarling in anger, Kevin launched himself back at Icon. Kevin's angry expression changed into one of confusion when his outstretched hands passed through Icon's body like smoke. As Icon flew past Kevin in preparation for another attack, he couldn't help but feel elation at his newfound fortune. Not only was he now immune to Kevin's attacks and still able to put up a fight, buy above it all his pain was gone. Icon was not a hundred percent sure why, but it seemed that the injuries that he had sustained as an organism no longer applied to him when he was an organism that neither had a skeleton nor a truly solid body.

Undaunted, Kevin angrily charged after Icon.

"Say, Kevin," Icon stopped flying after reaching the end of a hallway, "Still think I'm a dweeb?"

"You have _no idea!" _growled Kevin.

"Takes one to know one!" Something about this form and the situation was making Icon more confident and derisive than usual.

Kevin engaged his Kineceleran legs and recklessly charged forward. Icon phased through the wall and Kevin crashed straight into solid metal.

"_Keeeeviiiiin!" _

After picking himself up yet again, Kevin looked over his shoulder to locate the source of the mocking voice. Sure enough, Icon had reappeared far behind him and was comically waving at him. Kevin responded by using his Petrosapien arm to release a barrage of crystal shards. The crystals merely passed through Icon's protoplasm body.

"Come on, Kevin," Icon placed his arms on his sides in amusement, "You can do better than that!"

Kevin let out his umpteenth angry yell before using his Pyronite hand to unleash a stream of flames at Icon.

"_Whoa!" _Icon wasted no time in flying off to avoid the flames. He didn't know why, but the Ectonurite instincts were telling him that his body would not be immune to something such as fire. Icon steered down and phased through the floor, leaving the flames to strike a door out of its frame.

Icon phased his head out from the floor. He found himself sighing in relief. "That was a close one…"

Upon turning around to see where the flames had struck, Icon's relief suddenly turned into disappointment. "My room!"

Icon had to cut his grieving short when he was forced to phase back into the floor to avoid being struck by another blast of fire. Staying beneath the floor as an intangible object, Icon tried coming up with a new plan.

_Ok, I can avoid getting pounded, but I'm now afraid of getting toasted. Maybe I can avoid the fire too… or maybe not. I guess I should keep playing it safe. But how should I go about taking him out?_

Icon's thoughts were interrupted upon hearing the tearing of metal from above him. Kevin was digging through the floor in an attempt to find Icon. "Come back out here! I'm not done with you!"

Icon responded to Kevin's call by flying up and phasing through the floor so that he was behind Kevin. Icon silently flew back to the main room. He began swiveling his single Ectonurite eye around, searching. "Maybe I could get Kevin back out that window he came through," said Icon to himself under his breath. After seeing how strong Kevin was, Icon felt that a fall from the Tower would probably succeed in just knocking Kevin out, "But how am I going to do that? It'd take something pretty big to force _him_ out."

His single eye stopped upon seeing something in the kitchen area. He saw the oven. A thought occurred to him. If Icon had a throat, he would have swallowed at his plan. "I can't believe I'm about to do this…"

Icon flew towards the kitchen area and opened the oven. He then reached in and began taking apart whatever he could. As one final act, Icon then turned the dial to activate the oven before leaving it open. A hissing noise began to fill the room.

"Really hope this works…" wished Icon. He proceeded to fly back where Kevin was still digging through the floor.

Kevin's rage had still not subsided. "I-am-go-ing-to-rip-out-your-"

"Hey, Kevin!" mocked Icon. "Look behind you, you pig palooka!"

Kevin responded by turning around and charging at Icon like an enraged rhinoceros. Icon quickly flew off in the direction of the main room, staying out of Kevin's reach. Flying through the automatic doors, Icon wasted no time in approaching the broken window through which Kevin had entered. He could see odd shimmering patterns waving through the air. So far everything was going according to plan.

Kevin came bounding into the room. In his rage, he failed to notice the warning signs that were gleaming through the air. Icon dissipated his protoplasm body and vanished the moment Kevin attempted to snatch him. "GRAGH! Where did you go now?"

"Easy, I'm behind you again."

Kevin turned around and sure enough, Icon was present.

"You know, Kevin, I think you should come up with a new name," stated Icon, trying to make his voice as sardonic as possible. "I mean, Kevin _11_? Sure it rhymes but I think the last part is off by one?"

Kevin's eyes narrowed in a dangerous manner. "What do you mean?"

"You're missing the Galvan's ability!"

"I'm missing the what?" Kevin was unfamiliar with the alien terminology.

"Let's just say that if I had a dollar for every brain you didn't have…" Icon paused for effect, "I'd I have a dollar!"

Kevin's face contorted with rage. "Oh, THAT'S IT!"

He raised his Pyronite hand and extended it to emit a stream of flames.

BOOM!

Icon barely had enough time to phase through the floor as the entire room was consumed with flames in a great explosion. Icon did not stop flying downwards until he had reached the Tower basement. On the way down he could have sworn that he had heard Kevin yelling from being sent hurtling backwards out of the window and falling down to the earth below. Icon couldn't help but remain in the basement for a few moments more before deciding to return to the main room. Seeing as how powerful Kevin was, it wouldn't have been to far of a stretch if he recovered from his fall and returned to the main room to ambush an unsuspecting Icon. After phasing through a few floors, Icon finally approached the barrier of metal that would lead to the main room. He stopped upon hearing footsteps. Had Kevin come back to the main room?

"Icon!"

"Icon, where are you?"

"Icon! Icon!"

Upon hearing his name, could feel his insides tingle with joy and relief. He knew these voices, they were those of his teammates, his friends!

"Guys, I'm right here!" exclaimed Icon as his intangible body passed through the floor.

"Augh!"

Icon realized too late that he had phased through one of his teammates. "Oh, sorry Terra."

"I-It's ok…" Terra was grimacing as she tried rubbing out the sick sensation that had just washed over her stomach. "I'm just glad you're ok!"

"We thought you were a goner!" Beast Boy looked oddly pale.

"Where's Kevin?" immediately inquired Robin.

"Kevin?" Icon was perplexed for a moment, "How'd you know he was here?"

"Because Kevin was the one in the city today," said Raven darkly.

"What? Well in that case, he just fell out over there!" Icon pointed to the window space that Kevin had been sent out of. Everyone immediately rushed over to where Icon had pointed. Upon looking down, they could all make out a decent crater that appeared to have been created by a large object. However, the crater was empty.

"Then where'd he go?" Beast Boy spoke for everyone.

"Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven," barked Robin. "Go out and see what you can find!"

With that, the three Titans flew off to survey the area. Icon was half in mind to join them, but at that moment, the hourglass dial on Icon's chest began blaring red. In a flash of red light, Icon resumed his human form. Icon found himself awkwardly landing on his feet from a short drop to the floor.

"You ok?" Cyborg caught Icon by the shoulders before he could fall over.

"I'm-I'm," Icon had reflexively clutched what was supposed to be his injured side, "_ok…_I feel better!_" _

Icon rubbed his ribcage in astonishment. After changing into an Ectonurite and back, his fractured ribs were actually gone! Using the Omnitrix to transform had helped him to recover from injuries again!

"That's great!' cheered Terra.

"Yeah!" happily laughed Icon. His joy vanished however when he saw Robin looking out the window space. "So…" began Icon as he addressed his three present teammates. "What happened out in the city today? You know, with Kevin?"

"Kevin? He was already tearing up the place when we found him," said Terra. "We fought him, but…he wasn't even interested in that. He just kept screaming that he wanted to know where you were."

"And he decided to come here when I didn't show up?"

"Well, a certain _grass stain_ had accidently let it slip where you were," gruffly added Cyborg.

_Beast Boy, of course... _Icon almost rolled his eyes in amusement.

"We went after him but," Terra hesitated, "Icon, remember those robots that used to chase you? They're back!"

"WHAT?" Icon turned his head so sharply that he was sure that it had nearly snapped off.

"Yes! When we were going after Kevin they just appeared out of nowhere!"

"They're the reason that we didn't get here until we did," explained Robin.

"H-how?" Icon's head was reeling, "They've been gone for so long, I thought they were all gone. Augh! I should've known that there could've still been more somewhere." Icon reeled back into where a segment of the couch normally. He fell down after trying to sit into an empty space.

"Uh, Icon?" Cyborg's one human eye widened in distress when he truly noticed a certain something for the first time since he had arrived, "What happened to the couch?"

"_Yeah, _about that…" Icon bashfully rubbed the back of his head as he looked to where a charred piece of furniture was now lying.


	13. Icon's Memory: House Cleaning

"Did you have to wreck the couch _and _the TV?" groaned Beast Boy as he woefully picked up the remains of a cushion.

"I wasn't really thinking about that," admitted Icon. He was currently bonded to a computer console as a Galvanic Mechomorph, using its abilities to help Robin make repairs to it, "But if it helps, Kevin blasted my room."

Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven had recently returned from a fruitless search for Kevin. The whole team was now cleaning up the mess that had been made from Icon's fight with Kevin.

Icon separated his metallic body from the computer console. Robin pressed a few buttons and, to his delight, the computer screen in front of him lit up like a light.

"Is that it?" Icon peered over Robin's shoulder.

"We're good," responded Robin after inspecting the computer. "Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome," Icon then walked towards the door on his short thick alien legs, "And speaking of my room earlier, I've got some stuff to clean up."

Icon then exited the door and made his way down the hallway, making sure to step around the large hole that Kevin had torn and dug in the floor. He reverted back into his human form in a flash of red light upon approaching the space where the door to his room had been. Icon let out an exasperated sigh at the sight of his room. After the flames from Kevin's attack had blasted through the door, some sparks had ignited flammable materials that had been present in the room. The things that had caught on fire had included the mattress to his bed, the nightstand, the desk, and even the board that he had been pinning his drawings and sketches onto.

He gloomily went up to the board so he could begin collecting what had failed to survive the blaze. Icon's fingers were quickly blackened as he started plucking off crumbling pieces of charred paper. After getting a decent handful of the burnt papers, he made for the room's trash bin only to find that it had melted.

"_Perfect," _muttered Icon to himself. He exited his room to find another trash bin.

"Did anything survive?"

He saw that Raven was walking in his direction.

"Not really," sighed Icon. "Pretty much everything in there's toast," He presented the burnt pieces of paper in his hand for emphasis, "What are you here for?"

"Someone has to take care of that hole in the floor," Raven motioned to the hole before them.

"_NOOOOOOOO! WHY?" _

Raven and Icon both looked in the direction of the main room in surprise.

"What happened to Beast Boy?" asked Icon in bewilderment.

"Last time I checked, he was trying to see what was left of his movie collection."

"_Oh,_" Icon was half in mind to tug the collar of his shirt in discomfort, "Again, sorry about the main room…"

"It's fine," assured Raven. "Beast Boy needed a break from those movies anyways."

Icon let out a small chuckle before deciding to continue on his way.

"Looking for something?" asked Raven as she began using her magic to meld pieces of metal together to seal and fill the hole in the floor.

"Trash bin," stated Icon, stopping for a moment. "Mine melted."

"Really? Well, in that case," Raven raised a hand and the door to her room opened. With another wave of her hand, a trash bin came out floating in a mass of dark energy. The trash bin was set before Icon's feet.

"Wow, thanks!" Icon began filing the charred papers into the trash bin. He was just about to deposit the last few sheets into the bin when a flash of white caught his eye. "Hey, one of them made it out!"

Raven looked up from her work to see that Icon was indeed holding in his hand a largely intact piece of paper. Sure, it was a little burnt at the edges, but it had still clearly survived the flames. "Which one is it?" asked Raven in interest.

"Kinceleran." Icon flipped the paper so that Raven could see the drawing of the saurian-like creature.

Raven nodded her head. "Looks pretty good."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thanks," Icon was almost taken aback by the compliment. He could have literally counted with his fingers the number of times Raven had paid attention to any of his drawings like that. The Omnitrix suddenly beeped to indicate that it was ready for use again. "Ah, just what I needed…" He folded the drawing and put it into his pocket.

Then, with a few twists and a slam on the dial, Icon was transformed into a muscular Tetramand in a flash of green light. "This is going to help with a lot!" Icon happily flexed his four arms before returning to his room. He came out shortly afterwards carrying the remains of a desk.

"Yep," said Icon contentedly to himself. "Now this feels as light as a feather!" The words had barely left his mouth when the brittle remains of the desk suddenly crumbled into pieces in the strong grasp of his hands, "Whoops…" Icon was now comically looking down at the pieces of furniture that had fallen to the floor.

Raven couldn't help but shake her head in amusement.

XXX

"Man, what a day…" Icon allowed himself to flop down onto the rocky ground of the shoreline.

"Well, you did nearly get waxed by Kevin," mentioned Beast Boy.

"And you found out that whatever was out to get you is back again," added Terra.

It was night and the three teenagers were seated by the shoreline near the base of the Tower.

"I just wish I knew more about Kevin," groaned Icon rubbed the sides of his face with both of his hands. "Like how he's a bunch of aliens rolled into one…or why he wants to _annihilate_ me so badly in the first place!"

"He seemed kinda nutty to me," said Beast Boy.

"Oh yeah," sighed Icon.

Madness had no purpose.

"Still wouldn't explain the 'bunch of aliens rolled into one' part," mulled Terra.

"That's true."

A wind suddenly blew across the shore. It was not a squall but it was still strong enough to ripple some of the water. None of the trio was able to keep goosebumps from breaking across their skin.

"Hey, Terra, are you all right?" Beast Boy had noticed that the geomancer had actually shuddered.

"I'm ok," Terra was doing her best to put on a reassuring face as she clutched herself for warmth.

"You sure?" Beast Boy did not look entirely convinced, "Cause I can go back inside and get a blanket, " Beast Boy almost let out a horrified gasp when he saw Terra inadvertently scratch her now twitching nose, "You're already catching a cold!" The changeling made to get to his feet, "There's no time to lose—"

"Relax," laughed Terra as she pulled her teammate back down. "I'm _fine._"

Terra, like a number of teenagers, might have taken this as an affront to her capacity to take care of herself. However, there was just something about the face that Beast Boy made whenever he was worked up like this that made it hard to take him too seriously.

"Technically, none of us would catch a cold from the cold," added Icon.

Beast Boy's ears pricked. "Then how do we catch it?"

"The cold puts strain on our bodies and makes it difficult for our immune systems to work. When that happens, we're sitting ducks for anything floating around."

"And _then_ we can catch whatever gives us the cold?" Terra let out a grim laugh.

"Bingo."

"Then maybe we should go back inside."

XXX

"Phew, it _was _getting chilly out there…" Icon patted his body down as he walked into the entrance of the Tower.

"Pretty weird for summer," commented Beast Boy. The Titan frowned after looking between his two teammates. Icon and Terra were both shivering. "Gee, I know it was getting cold but I didn't think it was _freezing_…Are you two feeling ok?"

"I'm ok." Icon did his best to put on a reassuring look. His expression quickly changed when a thought occurred to him, "Then again, maybe we _are _coming down with something."

Personal experience had taught him that chills were a common symptom of a number of illnesses.

"Still better than having an alien ghost go through your stomach," commented Terra.

"That bad, huh?" Icon turned his head in the geomancer's direction, "What was that like?"

"Like having your insides go through a cold slimy shower…" Terra actually grimaced at the memory.

"Yeck!"

"I think I'd take my chances with a cold too."

The three couldn't help but emit a few laughs as they made their way to the elevator. None of them would have imagined what future events would bring.


	14. Family Quarrels I

Time: Present

The Rustbucket was traveling on a road winding its way through a wooded area. This time, the vehicle was plowing through a heavy rainstorm as it headed for Chicago, its next destination. Despite the amount of time it had been traveling for, it would still be hours before the Rustbucket reached its target.

Inside, Icon was seated at the indoor table and appeared to be sleeping against the back of a cushioned seat. But despite what it appeared to be, he was actually honing a new technique: feigning sleep. It had recently become one of his most practical maneuvers.

Icon opened his eye just a crack. He could see that Ben and Gwen were staring daggers at each other. After being stuck together in the Rustbucket yet again for an extended period, their sibling-like rivalry was flaring up again. This time however, they were not daring to say a thing. Icon had found that as long as they thought he was asleep, the two cousins would not risk waking him. Gwen and Ben could be in the midst of a heated squabble and Icon would merely have to 'fall asleep' to have the two cease their bickering.

As a result, the Rustbucket was peacefully silent. It was the way Icon, and Grandpa Max, liked it.

However, this did not stop Ben and Gwen from finding new ways to get at each other. As of now, the two had engaged in a staring contest. Icon had to suppress a laugh as he watched their faces screw tight in determination. After everything he had been through so far, it was difficult to take these two too seriously.

Icon's eye began to droop shut. The pattering of the rain on the Rustbucket and the lack of sunlight were beginning to lull him into an actual slumber.

The Rustbucket suddenly hit a bump in the road. Ben and Gwen were surprised to the point that both of them gave small jumps and broke their stares. The two cousins actually looked around at their surroundings for an instant before looking back at each other.

"You blinked!" simultaneously exclaimed Ben and Gwen.

"Wha-?"

The two cousins turned to see that the bump in the road had also jarred Icon awake.

_Oh boy… _Icon could see from the looks in the eyes in front of him just what had become the new center of attention.

"Hey, Icon!" Ben was the first to speak up. "Want to play Sumo Slammers?"

"Icon!" interjected Gwen as she pulled out a small book from her pocket. "Yesterday, I found this new spell that I thought you'd like look at."

"Uh…" Icon looked between them as he tried thinking of what to do or say next. Attempting to choose between these two could prove to be disastrous. One false move from Icon, and Ben and Gwen would be sent into another tiff. Today however, a false move from Icon was not required.

"Icon's going to be playing Sumo Slammers with _me,_ Gwen!"

"You played Sumo Slammers with him for two hours yesterday, Ben. There's no way he's going to want to—"

"Hey, how about twenty questions?" interjected Icon.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Twenty questions," repeated Icon. "One of us thinks of something and the rest of us can ask twenty 'yes or no' questions to figure out what it is." He hoped that this would help the situation. "Sound good?"

"Sure, Icon!" chirped Ben and Gwen in almost perfect unison.

"Ok then, I'll try thinking of something." Icon clapped his hands together and began to think. After a few moments he thought of something. "I'm ready now. Fire away."

Gwen was the first to respond. "Is it…a place?"

"No."

"How about…a person?" inquired Ben.

Icon thought for a moment. "Technically, yes."

"Is it someone famous?" asked Gwen.

"Yes."

Ben leaned forward. "A super hero?"

"Yes."

Ben thought for a moment. "You?"

"_No!" _Icon actually laughed.

"Kangaroo Commando?"

"No."

"Overlord?"

"No."

"Robin? Cyborg? Beast Boy?"

"No, no, and no."

"Ben!" snapped Gwen. "Now we're down to ten questions!"

"I don't see you helping!" retorted her cousin.

"All right then…" Gwen began wracking her brain for her next question. It was then that a thought crossed her mind. According to Icon, whatever he was thinking of was _technically a person_."…Is whoever it is…human?"

Icon's raised his head in interest. "No."

"Starfire?" piped Gwen.

"No."

Ben gave a smirk to a disgruntled Gwen. Now _she_ had reduced them to _eight_ questions. Gwen mentioning an alien had also given Ben an idea.

"Is it an Omnitrix alien?"

"Yes."

Seven questions left.

"Is it Fourarms?"

"No."

"Diamondhead?"

"No."

Gwen decided to pop in again, "XLR8?"

Icon was just about to answer when a near blinding light lit the inside of the Rustbucket. A loud crack filled the air and the vehicle swerved off to the side. All three passengers had to grab onto the table just to keep from falling over.

Then as soon as the chaos started, it ended. Icon, Ben, and Gwen couldn't help but remain where they were for a moment from the surprise.

Icon was the first one to break the silence. "Hey, Gwen, you got it right. It was XLR8."

XXX

"So, what's the damage report?" inquired Icon. Everyone was currently outside the Rustbucket and dressed in ponchos. Icon was holding a flashlight for Max as he inspected the RV.

"Well, it looks like were now short one wheel…"

Icon peered closer and saw what had once been a front wheel to the Rustbucket was now a smoldering mass of metal and rubber. As improbable as it was, the wheel had been struck by lightning.

"We have a spare, right?" asked Icon hopefully.

"We do," assured Max. He went to the back of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, a few feet away from Icon, Ben and Gwen were beginning to feel the effects of the weather. While their current attire was keeping them dry, the cold was beginning to get them. Gwen couldn't help but sneeze.

"Gross! Dweeb germs!"

Gwen glared at her cousin. "It was even in your direction, Ben."

"Achew!" Ben unexpectedly found himself sneezing.

"Ew! _Ben!" _While the poncho had shielded Gwen from the sneeze, it still disgusted her nonetheless.

Icon gave an exasperated sigh. He was immensely grateful when Max appeared shortly afterwards with some tools and the spare wheel.

The old man actually groaned when he set his eyes back upon the mess that was in front of him. "This is going to be a tough one…" Max was noting how the wheel had melted, removing it would be difficult if it had fused to anything in the process.

"Do you think we can still get it off?" inquired Icon as he shined the flashlight back onto the wheel.

"We'll just have to see…" Max began setting up a jack under the Rustbucket. All the while, he could hear his grandchildren continuing to bicker in the background.

"That was just nasty Ben!"

Max heard another sneeze.

"Augh! And _you're _not as gross, dweeb?"

A flash of lightning lit up the sky and there was an incredibly loud clap of thunder. Max heard two screams and the light that Icon had been providing suddenly went away. He looked over his shoulder to see that Icon had been caught off guard from having Ben and Gwen hurling themselves onto him. The two were now clinging to the teen in terror.

Icon looked back at Max and merely gave him a shrug. Seeing that the two ten-year olds didn't seem to be ready to pull away any time soon, Icon reached over them so that he could continue shining the flashlight for Max, who returned to his work.

Another flash of lightning caused Ben and Gwen to tighten their holds. "Uh…" Icon tried to ease the situation with conversation, "Everything ok?" He got his answer when he felt his abdomen become further constricted after another clap of thunder resounded through the air.

"Guess not," wheezed Icon. He desperately tried thinking of a way to save himself from suffocation, "Anyone up for another round of twenty questions?"

"Ok."

"Sure."

Ben and Gwen continued to keep their faces buried in Icon's poncho.

"All right, let's see…" Icon quickly started sifting through his memory banks. "Ok, I've got something!"

"Is it another alien?" whimpered Ben.

"No."

"Human?" piped Gwen.

"No."

"A place?"

"No."

"An animal?"

"Yes."

Max was now examining the destroyed wheel more closely to see how he could best remove it.

"A bug?"

"No."

"Mammal?"

"No."

"How about a bird?"

"Yes."

"Can it fly?"

"Yes."

"A raptor?"

"A raptor? I thought that was a dinosaur." Ben loosened his hold a little on Icon and uncovered his face.

"It can also refer to birds of prey, Ben. And no."

Max was now attempting to remove the wheel.

"Does it live around here?"

"No," Icon then paused, "Well, actually, there are some where we're headed. They're just not native to the area."

"Huh?" Gwen loosened her own hold and uncovered her face.

"I'll explain after the game—"

VWOOSH!

An unusually powerful wind suddenly picked up. Icon actually felt himself get blown backwards as Ben and Gwen's grips on him tightened again. All three of them fell into a large puddle of water with a large splash.

"SHOOT!"

Icon propped himself up on his elbows to see an aggravated Max looking after the spare tire that was now rolling down a muddy embankment.

"You three wait there!" shouted Max through the torrent. "I'll go get the wheel!"

Ben and Gwen released their holds on Icon as the three began picking themselves up. However, the two ten-year-olds were quick to resume their holds on Icon when another clap of thunder resounded through the air.

"Uh, you two still have ten questions left," said Icon. "Do you want to still keep going?"

"Ok!" sounded two voices.

"All right then," noted Icon. "What's next? So far you know that it's a bird, it flies, it's not a bird of prey…and that it's not native here."

"Does it live near the ocean?" asked Ben.

"No."

"The savannah?" asked Gwen.

"No."

"The desert?"

"No."

"The tropics?"

"Yes—"

KRAK!

A bolt of lightning struck the ground only a few feet away from the trio.

"WHOA!" yelped Icon. He would have leapt a full yard away if Ben and Gwen still hadn't been gripping him. "Th-that was close."

"Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice, right?" asked Ben. As if to answer his question a second bolt of lightning struck the ground, this time closer to the Rustbucket. A third bolt then grazed the Rustbucket's antennae.

Gwen's eyes widened in realization, "The Rustbucket, it's acting like a lightning rod!"

"THEN RUN!" barked Icon. No one hesitated at the thought of the suggestion. Ben and Gwen had even released their holds on Icon as the three ran as quickly as they could from the Rustbucket. The sounds of more lightning bolts striking the ground spurred them forward. They didn't stop running until they were nearly fifty feet away from the vehicle.

"Phew!" breathed Icon. He looked back at the Rustbucket where the lightning was raining down as much as the rain itself.

"Some storm!" exclaimed Ben.

Icon was now looking around at their surroundings "Yeah, some storm—AH!"

Ben and Gwen suddenly felt Icon seize them by the backs of their ponchos and pull them backwards.

"What's the big deal—" Ben stopped short when he saw that they had been dangerously close a very steep slope, "Whoa!"

"That was close," said Gwen.

It was then that another bolt of lightning struck the ground. But unlike the previous ones, this bolt was even stronger. Unlike the previous ones, it shattered the ground that the three were standing on.

"AAAAAH!"

Icon, Ben, and Gwen were sent sliding down the slope after the earth beneath their feet crumbled. Acting on pure impulse, Icon did his best to hug Ben and Gwen close to him in an attempt to keep everyone together. The fall was terrifying; the earth scraping against their bodies was painful. It was over as quickly as it started.

"E-everyone ok?" asked Icon through gritted teeth.

"I-I think so," breathed Ben.

"Me too," said Gwen.

The two cousins pushed themselves off from Icon's body as he picked himself up. A grimace flashed across Icon's face.

Gwen was the first to notice Icon's expression, "Are _you _ok?"

"I'm fine," assured Icon, who was doing his best to ignore the pain in his badly scraped back. When hugging Ben and Gwen close while skidding down the slope he had spared the two from the worst of the fall. He himself on the other hand had been less lucky. Fortunately, it didn't feel like anything that he couldn't handle.

Icon looked up and peered at the top of the slope through the rain, "Looks pretty steep for us to climb back up."

"What's the big deal?" Ben was confused by Icon's look on the situation, "We've got these remember?" The ten-year-old held out the Omnitrix on his left wrist.

"Oh, that's right!" Icon felt like smacking himself across the forehead, "We could just transform and—"

TSEW! A red laser bolt narrowly missed Icon's head. The teen whipped around to see a group of large metallic bodies emerging from the thick of the woods. They were bipedal machines that were encased in thick white armor. Their hands were formidable looking pincers and a single red circle was present at what appeared to be the center of their heads.

"Yep," Icon made for his own prototype Omnitrix, "Definitely a good time to go alien."

"Right behind you!" exclaimed Ben as he followed Icon's actions suit. Two green lights flashed through the air. One light died down to reveal Icon's Diamondhead form.

"Here's the plan," Icon positioned himself into a stance as his Titan training began to kick in, "I'll take the front and keep these things busy. Gwen, get behind me. Ben, I want you to take the back and—"

Icon had just glanced in Ben's direction when he saw that he was looking into thin air. He looked down and found himself looking down at Ben's Graymatter form.

The red circles on the heads of the robots began glowing and Icon was forced to take action. Leaping in front of Ben and Gwen, he used his crystal body to shield them from the oncoming laser blasts.

Ben looked out from behind Icon's leg, "So, uh, what is it you want me to do?"

"Follow plan B," Icon launched a barrage of crystal shards at the droids, felling one in the process, "Gwen, take Ben and get out of here! I'll cover for you!"

"What?" squeaked Ben as Gwen scooped him up.

"You heard me!" barked Icon as he melded one of his crystal arms into a blade. "Get moving!"

Gwen obeyed and ran from the scene with Ben in her hands.

"_Gwen! _What're you doing?" shouted Ben. "The fight's back over there! Icon needs—"

"He told us to _run_, Ben," said Gwen. "Icon said he'd handle it."

"Augh! You're such a _dweeb!" _

"I'm trying to keep us from getting vaporized, you doofus—AH!" Gwen emitted a yell and stopped in her tracks when a dark figure leapt in front of them. It was a masked android, identical to the ones that had attacked the Tennysons once before.

"O-one of those guys again?" Ben's tiny body actually went rigid with terror in Gwen's hands. Gwen made to run in the opposite direction but the android was faster. It scooped the young girl up with one arm, snatched Ben from Gwen with its free hand, activated its jet boots, and flew into the air.

"Let go of us!"

Ben and Gwen vainly tried struggling out of their assailant's grip. The android merely remained unresponsive and kept flying towards whatever destination it had in mind. Then, without warning, a tremendous noise broke through the air. It sounded like a mixture of thunder and a crackling noise.

Ben, Gwen, and even the android looked up to see peculiar blue and white-yellow lights flashing through the sky.

"Whoa…" breathed Ben.

"What is that?" asked Gwen.

Even in their current situation, the two ten-year-olds found themselves mesmerized by the scene. The lights suddenly intensified and exploded. Ben and Gwen couldn't help but shield their eyes. A powerful force was sent through the air and the android was sent awry and lost its hold on both of its two prisoners, who each fell screaming.

**Author's Note: To any concerned readers, don't worry I'm not killing Ben and Gwen off.**


	15. Family Quarrels II

Kersplash!

Gwen felt her body submerge in ice-cold water. She kicked around frantically, desperately trying to get her head above the surface. It was especially difficult since she was now being swept along in a current and was being weighed in the water by her poncho.

After a tremendous amount of effort, Gwen miraculously broke through the surface.

"HELP!" It was the only thing that she could think of doing. As pointless as it seemed with no one around, it was her only chance for survival.

After a few precious seconds, Gwen was dragged below the surface.

Again, she broke the surface after a hard-pitched battle, "SOMEONE PLEASE!"

Again, Gwen sank below the surface. This was it, this was the end for her.

Or so she thought.

Gwen felt something powerful grip her by the back of her poncho and pull her clear out of the water. She felt herself hoisted into the air and then gently lowered onto solid ground. Gwen allowed herself to remain sprawled on the ground, gasping and sputtering.

"Are you unhurt?" asked a deep thundering voice.

"I-I think so," sputtered Gwen. After a few more coughs, she was able to push herself onto her knees and look up to see the face of her rescuer. Gwen jumped back slightly when she found herself looking back at a large blue humanoid that was clad in dark blue Asiatic armor.

"There is no need to be alarmed!" The humanoid raised a hand in reassurance.

"S-sorry," apologized an abashed Gwen. This person had saved her life and she had been showing more fear than gratitude. "…Thanks for saving me…"

"You are welcome, little one" the blue humanoid nodded. He then frowned, "But what are you doing out here? This is no place for a child."

"I'm lost," explained Gwen. "I was with my cousin, but we were kidnapped and then…"

"You were dropped in the river?"

"Yeah."

"And your cousin?"

"He got dropped too," added Gwen. "But I don't know where he is."

"Would you like me to aid you in searching for him?" The humanoid looked solemn.

"Yes! Please!" Gwen was eager for some security after being abducted by an android commando and nearly drowning.

"What is your name child?"

"My name's Gwen, Gwen Tennyson," answered Gwen. "And yours?"

The humanoid tapped a fist against his chest. "Call me Thunder."

XXX

"Oomph!"

Ben's tiny Galvan body had gotten caught in a tree branch. After shaking the initial impact off, Ben cautiously straightened himself up upon the branch.

He looked down from the branch while surveying his surroundings, "Whoa, _that_ could have been bad."

Ben saw that he was currently situated at a decent height from the forest floor. The tree branch that had caught had been the one thing that had prevented him from splattering against the ground.

The ten-year old proceeded to climb to the top of the tree. He scanned the area in hopes of being able to find someone or something.

"Nothing…" sighed Ben. His spirits lifted however, when he caught sight of the Rustbucket in the distance, "Bingo!"

If he could make it back to the Rustbucket, he could find either Max or Icon, or maybe even both. Then, it would be a simple matter of tracking Gwen down.

Ben climbed down from the treetop and back onto a branch. He proceeded to jump from tree to tree, steadily making his way back to the Rustbucket.

"If I keep this up, I should be there in approximately—" Ben's eyes widened in surprise when, instead of landing on another branch, he landed in a bright yellow bush of hair.

"Ah!" yelped a voice. Ben felt the bush of hair he was caught in move. Before he could respond, a hand gripped him and pulled out of the hair. He soon found himself looking back at the thin pointed face of a bright yellow humanoid that was adorned in orange Asiatic armor.

The humanoid was currently entangled among the tree branches. It peered at Ben.

"What an odd creature," said the humanoid to itself. Its voice was high and seemed to cackle like electricity, "Just what are you?"

"I could ask you the same thing," responded Ben.

The humanoid's eyes widened in astonishment, "Y-you speak?"

A loud blaring noise filled the air as the hourglass symbol on Ben's back began blaring red. He looked at how precariously the humanoid was positioned among the branches, "Uh oh…"

Ben reverted back into a ten-year old human boy in a flash of red light, breaking out of the humanoid's grasp and falling down onto it. Both Ben and the humanoid let out a horrified and pained yells as they fell through the branches. After a few agonizing moments, the two fell into a group of bushes, which cushioned their fall.

"Ow…" Ben sorely crawled out of the foliage alongside the humanoid.

"A boy?"

Ben turned his head towards the humanoid, who was now staring at him in a perplexed manner.

"You were an amphibian, but now…you are a boy," the humanoid peered at Ben, "Are you a shape shifter?"

"Huh?"

"You can change your shape?" The humanoid got to its feet, keeping his eyes on Ben in curiosity.

"Uh, yeah…I can do that," Ben rose to his own feet while cautiously observing the stranger.

"Hm, this makes you the third one I've met, interesting," mused the humanoid. He gave Ben an absent wave. "Well, off you go."

The humanoid proceeded to walk away.

"Uh…nice meeting you," said a baffled Ben. Deciding to leave the bizarre experience behind him, he made to continue traveling in the direction of the Rustbucket. He would have kept going if a dark figure hadn't suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere and cut him off.

"AH!" Ben couldn't help but let out a yell when he saw the tattered face of the robot commando that had snatched him and Gwen earlier on. Despite everything, it had survived being knocked full force out of the air.

Ben immediately ran in the opposite direction. He looked down at the Omnitrix, its dial was still red. Shoot!

Much to his horror, Ben tripped on a tree root and fell. He scrambled around until he found himself crab-walking away from the assailant. The robot commando outstretched a metal claw to grab Ben.

A lightning bolt suddenly whipped through the air and struck the android right in the chest, ripping the machine to pieces. Ben looked over his shoulder in astonishment to see the bright yellow humanoid holding an outstretched hand. Its palm was emitting smoke.

"Wow."

"Impressed?" The humanoid smugly rubbed his armored chest with his knuckles.

"_Yeah!_" Ben got to his feet, "Thanks for that!"

"It was nothing," assured the humanoid.

"Nothing? You saved me from getting kidnapped again!" exclaimed Ben.

The humanoid's posture actually straightened. "Kidnapped_? _You were _abducted?"_

"Yeah! Me and my cousin were snatched by that thing!" Ben pointed to the remains of the droid, "It flew off with us, but then there was this big bang and it dropped us. We got separated. I was looking for help— "

"And then you ran into me," mused the humanoid. He seemed to be considering something. "You know…I was just separated from my brother in these very woods…"

"Maybe we could team up!" As a ten-year old boy, Ben was keen for his own sense of security.

"My thoughts exactly." It appeared that the humanoid did have a heart.

"Well, since were teaming up, my name's Ben Tennyson," Ben pointed to himself with his thumb, "What's yours?"

The humanoid gave a mischievous smile,"I am Lightning."

He allowed both of his hands to cackle with electricity for emphasis.

XXX

Elsewhere, Icon had unleashed another barrage of crystals, piercing yet another large white-armored droid. It fell and became part of an ever-growing pile of skewered, dismembered, and broken mechanical bodies.

Icon had just enough time to flex his arm when he was forced to grapple with another droid that charged at him. He was just able to grab hold of the droid's arms and use his rock-hard head to smash its single eye, disorienting the machine. Icon released his hold and proceeded to slash the droid width-wise with a crystal bladed arm.

"Two more down," said Icon under his breath. "That leaves…"

He looked to see that a group of six was left. Icon couldn't help but feel a little optimistic. He could end this battle. Summoning whatever strength he had, Icon plunged his hands into the ground and generated a large cluster of crystals. The cluster of crystals grew quickly and traveled across the ground. Icon looked on in satisfaction as he saw the crystals smash into and engulf the droids.

"Phew," Icon withdrew his hands from the ground and began dusting them off, "Glad that's over."

A series of clanking and cracking noise suddenly caught his attention. Icon raised his head to see a lone surviving droid smashing through the weaker parts of the crystal cluster.

Icon changed one of his arms into a blade. "Well, at least it's just you—"

The hourglass symbol on his chest began to blink red and emit a loud blaring noise. Icon was able to produce a dismayed look before reverting back to his human form in a flash of red light.

"Oh snap…" Icon began backing away from the oncoming droid. He swallowed nervously as the droid's single eye began glowing. How was he going to get out of this one?

A loud noise rang through the air and the upper portion of the droid was obliterated in a flash of blue and green lights. It fell over to reveal Max holding a large high-tech firearm in his hands.

"Mr. Tennyson!" breathed Icon.

"Icon, glad I found you!" Max was equally pleased to see Icon. After recovering the lost tire, Max had returned to the Rustbucket to find that everyone else was missing. When he had heard the commotion from the battle between Icon and the droids, he had wasted no time in grabbing the first piece of equipment he could get his hands on.

The two quickly ran to meet each other. "Where are Ben and Gwen?"

"B-Ben and Gwen?" Icon tensed. "I told them to leave when these robots showed up. Ben accidentally turned into Graymatter, so I told Gwen to take him and…" He slightly averted his gaze in guilt. Max had entrusted him with his two grandchildren and he, Icon, had lost them.

"You told them to run so you could get them out of danger," assured Max. "The important thing now is to go and find them."

Icon did his best to nod and pointed to a more heavily wooded area. "Last time I saw them, they went that way."

The two began trekking through the forest.

"I just hope they're all right," sighed Icon

"I wouldn't worry too much about those two," assured Max. "Believe me they're a lot tougher than they look."

XXX

Gwen and Thunder were currently following the river that they had met by. Since falling in and being swept away by the river was what brought Gwen further away from her cousin, then following it upstream would likely bring them closer to reuniting with Ben.

"Hey…" The redhead looked up upon noticing something, "The storm's blowing over."

Thunder also looked up. "So it is."

Sure enough, the rain was letting up and the clouds were clearing.

"That's nice, it was too big and loud for me," commented Gwen. "It was pretty strange too."

"Strange? What to do you mean?"

"Did you see any of the lights?" Gwen hopped over a log, "Before we got dropped, my cousin and I saw these weird blue and yellow lights flashing in the sky. I…never saw anything like it."

Thunder stopped walking. "When you say 'lights' do you mean something like this?"

Gwen stopped walking and turned around to see Thunder getting into a stance. He raised his arms and slammed his palms together, emitting a blue energy wave that went out into the sky like a shockwave.

"You mean that was you?" Gwen was astounded.

XXX

"What was that?" Ben was staring in surprise at the burst of blue light he had seen in the distance.

"A sign!" Lightning was excited at the sight of the light. Wasting little time, he shot a stream of electric energy into the air.

XXX

"What was that?" Gwen was staring wide-eyed at where she had seen a lightning bolt fire from the ground.

"My brother!" happily exclaimed Thunder. He fired another wave of blue energy into the air, responding to the lightning signal.

"Your brother?"

"Yes," Thunder motioned to Gwen as he began moving towards the direction of the lightning, "Come, quickly. If we find him, he may be able to help in your search."

XXX

"D-did you see that?" Icon was looking at the sky in astonishment.

"I sure did!" answered Max. The two of them had just seen a lightning bolt that seemed to have fired directly from the ground.

"What do you make of it?"

"Well, it might not be much, but any lead's better then no lead."

Max ran, with Icon following suit, in the direction of where the lightning bolt had appeared. The two continued running until they came across something that made their blood run cold.

"Oh no…" Max actually paled. Lying before them were the charred remains of the masked android that Lightning had destroyed.

"Mr. Tennyson, when people use robots, do they usually use more than one variety?" Icon was unknowingly clenching his fists and teeth at the sight of the android as a thought occurred to him. Could the master of the masked android have also been the one who sent the large white-armored droids he had fought earlier?

"They do…" Max seemed to be sharing the same thoughts.

Unable to completely contain himself, Icon fiercely kicked what was left of the android's head. A beep from his left wrist brought the teen back to his senses.

"We've got to find those two _now!" _Icon quickly began working the dial of the prototype Omnitrix.


	16. Family Quarrels III

"So, you and your brother actually _made _the storm?" Gwen was still astounded at the revelation.

"Indeed," answered Thunder as they continued walking. "We draw our powers from nature, and together they were able to create the storm."

Gwen cocked her head. "Why aren't you with your brother now?"

Thunder hesitated. "We…had been fighting. When our battle reached its peak, we created a tremendous force that separated us."

"You know, an explosion made the guy who kidnapped me drop me and my cousin," Gwen smiled, "Thanks for that."

XXX

"So, let me get this straight," Ben was making sense of what his traveling companion had been telling him, "You and your brother made the storm."

"Yes," answered Lightning as they continued walking towards their destination.

"And you got stuck in a tree because you two created a big bang."

"Yes."

"And it all happened because you two were in a fight."

"Yes."

"Happen a lot?" asked Ben.

Lightning actually let out a dry laugh. "Yes, it happens quite a bit. My brother can be rather irritating."

"Really?" Ben looked up at Lightning. "How's that?"

"Where to begin?" Lightning scrunched up his face, pretending to think very hard. The pensive face quickly became agitated, "His nagging his infuriating! He always thinks that he knows what we should be doing!"

"Sounds just like my cousin," chuckled Ben.

XXX

"My brother can be so reckless and irresponsible!" declared Thunder, "It's bothersome and frustrating."

"I can relate," said Gwen. "Ben's a real knucklehead too."

Thunder laughed, "It appears we both have difficult family."

"Gwen!"

The redhead turned away from Thunder to see Ben standing across a clearing. Accompanying her cousin was a thin light-yellow humanoid.

"Ben!"

"Brother!"

The two pairs ran to meet each other at the center of the clearing.

"Is this your cousin, Ben?" inquired Lightning.

Ben nodded, "Yeah, it's her."

Thunder and Lightning directed their attentions to each other.

"I see you have found my companion's family," began Thunder.

Lightning nodded, "So have you."

There was silence for a moment.

"Well, I suppose this leaves just one thing…"

"Indeed."

"I accept your apology," said the two brothers simultaneously. There was a pause before the two registered what the other had said. Their expressions quickly darkened.

"_You're _the one expecting an apology from _me?_" angrily exclaimed Thunder, jumping away and channeling blue energy into his hands.

"You're one to talk!" retorted Lightning, mirroring his brother's actions.

Ben and Gwen quickly moved out of the way when Thunder and Lightning unleashed waves of either blue energy or electricity at the other.

"Ben!" Gwen turned to her cousin, "Do something!"

Thunder and Lightning were now hurling multiple attacks at each other.

"Augh! I can't," groaned Ben as he looked down at the still red Omnitrix dial, "The watch is still charging!"

"Then tell him to back off!" Gwen pointed to Lightning.

"Can't you tell him to back off?" Ben pointed to Thunder.

"Thunder's not the one who started it, Ben. Lightning's an immature jerk!"

Thunder and Lightning charged at each other and began wrestling.

"_Lightning?_ Thunder's the one that keeps telling him what to do!"

"Maybe Thunder's just more responsible!"

"Maybe Thunder's just being bossy, like you!"

"Maybe _you're_ just siding with Lightning because he's like _you!"_

"Dweeb!"

"Doofus!"

A string of red laser bolts suddenly struck the ground near where the two cousins were standing, cutting the argument short. Thunder and Lightning stopped their own fight at the sound of the noise. There was then a series of odd clanking sounds. Everyone in the clearing turned to the direction of the commotion to see a small platoon of large white-armored droids marching onto the scene. A row of masked androids was leading the squad.

Gwen actually swallowed, "_No way…"_

Thunder and Lightning scrambled to their feet, cautiously eying the new arrivals.

"May we…ask who you are?" questioned Thunder warily. The masked androids responded first by charging forward. Lightning was roundhouse kicked to the face by one android as another cuffed Thunder's chin. The brothers were quick to retaliate, Lightning repelled his attacker with a blast of electricity and Thunder used his own brute strength to throw his own opponent to the ground. They were pushed back however when more white-armored droids began advancing forward.

The remaining masked androids separated from the group and set their sights on Ben and Gwen.

"Come on! Come on work!" Ben started rapidly punching the Omnitrix's buttons in attempts to reactivate the device. He looked up despairingly from the device to see many pairs of sinister white eyes staring back at him. A metal-clawed hand reached out to snatch him.

"HROAR!" A beastly bellow rang through the air. Everyone and everything stopped whatever battle they were partaking in.

A large Vulpimancer exploded onto the scene, bearing Max Tennyson on its back like a monstrous steed. Several of the androids were crushed when Icon landed squarely between the assassins and the two ten-year olds.

"Kids!" Max leapt off of Icon's back.

"Grandpa!" Ben and Gwen rushed over to their grandfather. The reunion would have lasted longer if Icon had not been producing such a commotion as he continued swiping at any android he could reach.

Ben heard a familiar beep. He smiled, "It's hero time!"

With a few twists and a push of a dial, Ben transformed into Four Arms in a flash of green light. A Vulpimancer and a Tetramand were then breaking through the ranks and scattering machines left and right. Max did his part by picking off the droids with his advanced firearm. All the while, Gwen was using magic to hurl machinery and generating various offensive and defensive spells.

"Icon!" Ben had just gotten caught up with a few of the large white-armored droids, "There are a couple of guys over there! They're swamped!" He motioned to where a large cluster of droids had gathered. Icon nodded in acknowledgement and engaged his long Vulpimancer legs to bound across the battle field.

He leapt onto the back of a white-armored droid and knocked it to the ground. Icon kept repeating the process, incapacitating some of the droids while making his way to the two people Ben had described. Judging from the explosions Icon was detecting, these people seemed to be holding their own against the mechanical attackers. After a final leap, he was close enough to be able to clearly detect Thunder and Lightning.

Upon detecting them Icon actually paused, raising his head in surprise. Thunder and Lightning caught sight of Icon and found themselves mirroring his actions. The pause had consequences.

A masked android took advantage of the hesitation and tossed a metal sphere at the three. The sphere landed between them and detonated, producing a powerful explosion. Thunder and Lightning were sent in one direction while Icon was sent in another.

Icon was sent crashing straight into Ben, toppling him over. Their left shoulders made contact. If they had seen this, the two would have seen an odd energy current pass from the hourglass symbol on Ben's shoulder to Icon's.

Icon felt himself revert back into a human in an odd yellow-green light.

"Wh-what the—" He scrambled up, examining himself in a confused manner. The teen was forced to cut his check up short when a barrage of lasers was fired in his direction.

"Icon, get out of here!" Ben got to his feet and pushed the teen behind him, "I've got it covered!"

Swallowing his pride, Icon decided to heed the ten-year old's advice and run. Better a loser now than a sore loser later.

"Come on please recharge…" pleaded Icon under his breath as he tried running to a more secure location, doing his best to dodge any lasers while praying to hear the proto-type Omnitrix beep again. He didn't stop running until he concealed himself behind a thick tree. Icon looked down at the device on his left wrist, hoping to see some change. His eyes widened at he saw.

Rather than being red or green, the device's hourglass symbol was glowing yellow. What was more, the rest of the Omnitrix's center was glowing a whitish yellow.

"What is this…?" After a few moments, Icon tentatively made to touch the Omnitrix. A metal hand suddenly seized his wrist and pulled him out from his hiding place. He found himself looking back at a sinister pair of white eyes, "Ah _snap…"_

The masked android wrapped an arm around Icon's torso and engaged its jet boots to take flight.

"Hey! Hands off!" Icon was doing his best to break out of his captor's grip as they flew across the clearing. Everyone present looked up at the commotion.

"Icon!" yelled Gwen. She quickly struck a pose, her hands glowing blue, "Galeus Disruptus!"

A powerful wind picked up and the android was thrown off course and disoriented.

"Hang on Icon I'm coming!" exclaimed Ben. Engaging all of the strength in his legs, he ran and leapt into the air, intercepting the android as it was blown in his direction. Ben grabbed it by the ankles and dragged it down to the ground. He pinned the android down with one pair of hands and used his second pair to pry Icon from the android's grip. Ben set Icon aside and threw the android at a second oncoming android.

The two android's were sent into a heap, but were quick to recover and leap back at Ben and Icon.

"Teewat Legora!"

A whirlwind suddenly picked up and tossed the two androids to the side.

Ben and Icon looked to see Gwen standing close by and holding a glowing outstretched hand.

"Th-thanks, Gwen," breathed Icon. "Y-you too, Ben. You nailed it together."

Ben and Gwen hesitated at what had just been uttered. They would have remained where they were if another group of robots had not come running in their direction.

XXX

"_That _does it!" growled Lightning as he and his brother picked themselves back up. The two had taken the worse of the explosive that had been thrown at them and Icon. They had been temporarily knocked out and were now in very foul tempers.

"Shall we unleash the full extent of our gifts?" suggested Thunder.

Lightning nodded, "Most definitely."

The two vanished into the sky in a flash of light.

Dark clouds gathered and a loud rumbling shook the sky. The remaining combatants all looked up. A lightning bolt crashed into the earth, obliterating several of the machines. A second bolt was hurled from the sky, and then another, and another. Like the first bolt, each bolt struck at least one robot, seeking them out like guided missiles. The sky continued to rain down lightning bolts until every last white-armored droid and masked android was destroyed.

"_Whoa!" _Ben was staring at the scene wide-eyed.

"Yeah, whoa…" Gwen concurred.

A flash of light came down from the sky and Thunder and Lightning materialized before Ben, Gwen, and Icon.

"Ben, Gwen," began Max as he approached the scene, "Who are they?"

"Those guys?" Ben motioned to the brothers with two of his four thumbs, "They're—"

"Thunder and Lightning," stated Icon.

"Yeah—Huh?" Ben looked at Icon in surprise.

"You know them?" Gwen was equally astounded.

"He is the second shape shifter I have met," said Lightning.

"We were introduced to each other," explained Thunder.

"They're friends of the Titans," added Icon.

"Speaking of which," added Lightning. "Are they near?"

"The Titans?" Icon's back stiffened, "They're still back at Jump City. It's just me."

Thunder furrowed his eyebrows, "You mean, you still have not reunited?"

"He's still on a recon mission," said Ben.

Lightning made a perplexed expression, "Recon mission? We heard—"

Thunder quickly jabbed Lightning with his elbow in a discrete manner. Lightning was going to inquire about the action when he suddenly noticed the dread that flashed across Icon's face.

"Heard what…?" asked Max warily.

"We heard that…" Lightning hesitated, "He _was_ out searching! Yes!"

Max Tennyson peered at Thunder and Lightning. There was definitely something fishy about that answer, just like Icon's response at Central Park. He would've pressed the matter, but now he wanted to get Ben and Gwen back to the Rustbucket. Max would wait for another day to get to the bottom of this.

XXX

The Rustbucket was later on the road again. Fitted with a new tire and as good as before, the vehicle was ever closer to Chicago.

Max and Icon were seated in the driver and passenger seats while Gwen and Ben, who had long since resumed his human form, had both fallen asleep by the indoor table.

"Hear that?" Icon happily cupped a hand around his ear.

"Hear what?" A small smile cracked at the corners of Max's mouth.

"Nothing."

"I know…" Max let out a satisfied sigh, "Though you have to admit, they've been acting better than before."

"Hm, that's true," mused Icon. Ever since they had returned to the Rustbucket, Ben and Gwen had not been bickering as much. He was silent for a moment, "Do you think they learned something? You know, after watching Thunder and Lightning?"

Max nodded, "Maybe. Seeing what those two could do after putting aside their differences might've made an impression. Well, that and being able to save you by working together."

"Aw, really?" Icon bashfully scratched the back of his head at the last part. Max was about to answer when the Rustbucket went across a large bump in the road. There were then two loud thuds.

Icon whipped his head around to see that Ben and Gwen had fallen straight out of their seats and into a tangled pile of limbs.

"Ben, get off of me!"

"Get your foot out of my face!"

Both Icon and Max mentally sighed as the cousins started bickering. Just when it seemed that they had finally attained the peace and silence that they had yearned for, they were back to where they started. So much for Ben and Gwen learning something.

"Dweeb!"

"Doofus!"

"Hey, when we get to Chicago, is anyone interested in seeing Hyde Park?" interjected Icon.

The two cousins stopped.

"Huh?" Ben tilted his head.

"Hyde Park?" questioned Gwen. "What's there?"

"The answer to the last twenty questions game, it lives there," Icon paused, "You know in case you're interested."

XXX

Many hours later, they arrived at Chicago. After arriving, the three Tennysons and Icon found themselves walking down the path of a city park.

"So where is it?" pondered Ben, searching for the mystery bird.

"Keep looking, you'll know it when you see it." Icon was scanning the surrounding trees. He stopped upon spotting something, "I see a nest, try looking over there."

Ben and Gwen followed Icon's outstretched finger to one of the trees. They looked to see a large elaborate nest that was built among the branches.

"What kind of bird made that?" Ben eyed the nest in bewilderment as they approached it.

"Cheep!"

A green-feathered head poked out of a nest entrance.

Gwen's eyes widened like saucers, "Is that a _parrot?_"

"A Quaker parrot," explained Icon. "From Argentina."

"Then what's it doing _here?" _asked Ben, staring at the bird in astonishment.

"A number of them were imported here to the U.S. as part of the part trade. A few of them escaped and bred. They've been able to live here since their nests allow them to wait out the winter. It's from originally living in mountainous areas with more temperate climates."

"And the city's ok with them?" Max watched as the parrot climbed out of the nest.

"As far as I know, they are now. The parrots aren't supposed to be competing with the native birds for the same foods. Plus, the local hawks prevent the population from exploding out of control."

The parrot fluttered down onto a lower lying branch. It was now eye-to-eye with the group.

"Aw," cooed Gwen. Now that the bird was closer up, details such as its little round eyes and its pudgy body were more visible.

Ben smiled, "Yeah, I guess it's kinda cute."

Without warning, the bird leapt onto Ben's left shoulder.

"Wow," chuckled Max. "It likes you, Ben."

After sensing that Ben was not moving, the parrot carefully edged its way down the boy's arm.

Gwen leaned in with interest, "It's going for the watch."

The parrot was indeed paying close attention to the Omnitrix. As one of the planet's more intelligent animals, it was determined to make sense of the strange object. Sure it had seen many humans wearing things on their wrists, but there was something different about _this_ thing.

"How about that," Icon watched the parrot start nibbling on the Omnitrix, "I didn't think there'd be any that'd be this used to people."

As if it was trying to prove a point, the parrot flew onto Icon's left shoulder.

"Whoa," Icon outstretched his arm as the parrot began moving around, "You _are _used to people."

Like Ben, Icon was wearing something that was piquing the Quaker parrot's interest. When it was close enough, it began investigating the prototype Omnitrix. The parrot nibbled curiously on the edge of the device. Just what were these things that the humans were wearing?

Gwen peered at the Omnitrix's dial, "It's still yellow?"

Now that the parrot was studying the prototype Omnitrix , everyone else had started paying attention to it.

"What do you think is going on with it?" piped Ben.

Icon shrugged, "Beats me. I've tried working it, but it hasn't been doing anything—"

The Quaker parrot suddenly jumped onto the Omnitrix and walked across several of its buttons. The Omnitrix emitted a bright yellow light, frightening the parrot off and forcing everyone else to shield their eyes.

When the light finally faded, everyone had to blink a few times to recover. Upon doing so, they reeled back in surprise.

Ben was the first one to respond, "The-the Omnitrix!"

"It _changed,_" breathed Gwen.

Icon was staring dumbly at the device on his wrist. It _had _changed. It _was _different now. While the hourglass on the dial was still yellow, the Omnitrix no longer looked like the crude prototype that it had once been. It looked newer and more finished like Ben's Omnitrix.

"Huh," Icon finally spoke up, "That's new."

Far above, the parrot was perched on a branch. Cocking its head, it continued watching the humans below.

**Author's Note: Yes, there really is a Quaker Parrot/Monk parakeet colony in Chicago, Illinois. The same goes for quite a few other areas.**


	17. Hex's Hexes

"We're visiting _another_ museum?" groaned Ben, slumping into his seat by the indoor table of the Rustbucket.

"It's the Chicago Field Museum, Ben," replied Max from the driver's seat. "It's one of the most famous museums in the country."

"You liked the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," said Icon absentmindedly as he continued studying his newly altered Omnitrix.

"Yeah, I guess," Ben huffed.

Icon caressed the side of the Omnitrix on his left wrist. It had been the center of his attention ever since it had transformed in Hyde Park. So far no one had been able to find out just how much the Omnitrix had changed apart from its physical appearance. Until the hourglass on the dial turned green again they would not be able to further inspect the Omnitrix. They would simply have to wait for now.

"I can't believe how much stuff they have there," Gwen was pouring over a brochure, "The Tsavo lions, the Grainger Hall of Gems, the Regenstein Laboratory, _Sue…"_

"Sue?" Ben raised his head, "Who's Sue?"

"A t-rex skeleton," Gwen continued to flip through the brochure, "It's the largest and most complete one that's ever been found."

"I guess that's something," mused Ben.

XXX

Not long afterwards, the four were entering the main hall of the Field Museum.

"Whoa, this place is huge." Ben would have heard his own voice echo across the room if there had not been so many people already present.

"Well, they had to fit all of those exhibits somewhere," Max chuckled to himself.

"There's Sue." Icon pointed to a large Tyrannosaurus skeleton that was on display. They were quick to approach it.

"_Nice…"_ Gwen looked at the fossil in marvel.

"Yeah, it is." Icon observed the skeleton while walking the length of the exhibit. He stopped when something caught the corner of his eye. His eyes fell to a poster that was by a doorway. A small smile broke across his face.

"Sure glad Animo didn't get _this _one," said Ben to himself as he continued looking at Sue. Fighting a normal t-rex that Dr. Animo had reanimated had been hard enough, for all he knew fighting one as large and complete as Sue could have been second to fighting Kevin or Vilgax.

"Hey, anyone want to see that exhibit after this?"

Ben looked to see that Icon was pointing to a poster of a temporary exhibition.

"Civilizations of the Americas," read Gwen.

Max nodded, "Looks interesting."

XXX

Icon was the first one to enter the exhibition, nearly bursting into the first room.

"So…what exactly is all this?" Ben looked curiously around at the many artifacts that were on display.

"It's what the sign says Ben," replied Gwen as she picked up a brochure from stand. "It's about Pre-Columbian civilizations."

"You mean like the Mayans?" It was difficult for Ben to forget the name after the experience with Ah Puch and the Sword of Ekchuah.

"And a few other groups from the looks of it," noted Max as he observed the exhibits.

"Oh they've got stuff from a few other groups all right." Icon was plastered to a case containing a collection of labeled Mesoamerican figurines as if trying to drink in every detail, "The Aztecs, the Olmecs, the Huastecs, the Zapotecs, the Totonacs the Otomi, the Mixtecs—Wow! They even included the Tarascans!"

"Tarascans?" Gwen walked up to the display and saw that Icon was staring at a bronze artifact, "Who were they?"

"A group of people from Western Mexico," explained Icon. "They were actually rivals to the Aztecs."

"They _rivaled _the Aztecs?" Gwen was astounded to hear this.

"Yeah, they even prevented the Aztecs from expanding into certain areas because they kept fending them off."

Max let out a low whistle as he and Ben approached the case.

"Whoa!" Gwen looked at the bronze Tarascan craft in bewilderment.

"I've never even heard of them," said Ben, looking into the case. Sure even he of all people had heard of the Aztecs but the Tarascans were another matter.

Icon nodded, "Well, from what I've heard, neither have too many other people."

"It's just this way! Just over there!"

A man in a fine pressed suit entered the room. Trailing after him was a throng of reporters.

"What's that about?" wondered Ben.

The man in the suit and the reporters walked into the next room and gathered by a display case.

"I present to you," The well-dressed man proudly motioned to the case, "The recovered Mayan codices of Uxmal."

Icon did a double take. "_Mayan _codices?"

"Codices?" questioned Ben. "What are those?"

"Manuscripts," answered Icon, craning his neck to get a better look at the display case of interest. He could just make out the codices between the reporters. They were folds of plant fiber paper that were covered in hieroglyphs and from the looks of it they had been carefully wrapped in plastic as an added precaution.

"Why's it so special if they're Mayan?" Gwen was noting the emphasis Icon had placed on their origins.

"Because last time I checked, they had only recovered three of them!" Icon looked excited. "They must've found more of them. Want to take a look?"

"Sure!" As far as Ben was concerned, if Icon was this interested in it then it was sure to be something worth seeing.

Max watched as Ben and Gwen happily trotted off in Icon's footsteps. A smile worked its way across the Plumber's face. He couldn't help but be reminded of how those two would follow Ken Tennyson.

XXX

Outside the museum, a girl was approaching the steps to the entrance. She had silver hair that was tied in a ponytail and was adorned in a dark pink coat. Her pink eyes looked intensely at the museum.

XXX

"Augh!" Ben was furiously wiping his mouth. He stared at a plate of free samples with a look of disgust, hurt, and betrayal, "_That's _chocolate?"

"Afraid so, Ben," Max was examining a wrapped bar of the said chocolate, "It's _the original_ kind, the kind without milk and sugar."

Ben's eyes suddenly widened and he started fanning his mouth.

"Oh," Max looked again at the wrapper, "It says there are also some chili peppers in this."

The group had gone through the exhibition and were currently in its gift shop.

"So basically, the Egyptians weren't the only ones who made pyramids," commented Icon as Gwen was flipping through a book titled _The History of New World Architecture. _

"That's for sure," concurred Gwen. "Some of the largest pyramids and monuments in the world are actually in the western hemisphere."

"Does it say anything about a Great Pyramid of Cholula in Puebla, Mexico?"

Gwen flipped through the book. "It does, it says that it's the largest monument in the world."

"By volume," added Icon.

"You…seem to know a lot about this," Gwen noted. First, there was his knowledge of various groups such as the Tarascans, the Mayan codices, and now he had been able to name a Mesoamerican structure and its location off the top of his head. "Where did you learn about it?"

"Where I learned about it?" Icon paused for a moment. To answer this question, he would have to draw upon some old memories, memories from before finding the Omnitrix, memories of places that were much further than here. While they were joyful memories, they had also become painful. But there was still a question to answer. "Well—"

CRACK! CRASH!

Everyone's heads turned.

"What was that?"

There were shouts and screams from outside.

"This can't be good," groaned Max.

The four exited the gift shop and re-entered the main hall.

"Whoa!"

People were running for the exits as a menagerie of odd stone creatures ran about. They were quadrupeds and appeared to each be the size of a very large dog. Peculiar pink markings ran down their crude bodies.

"What are those things?" Icon had never seen anything like it.

Gwen glared. "Charmcaster!"

Icon followed Gwen's gaze to see a silver-haired girl, who was giving Gwen an equally poisonous look.

"Urgh! _You_ again?" The girl named Charmcaster looked as if she was going to pop a blood vessel. She pointed in their direction. "GET THEM!"

The stone creatures stopped chasing people out of the museum and ran for the group.

"Snap!" Icon was about to bolt when a joyous beep emanated from his left wrist. It was music to his ears.

"All right!" cheered Ben. "It's hero time!"

Icon looked to the Omnitrix on his wrist and sure enough the hourglass symbol on the dial was green again. "Sure is, Ben!"

Quickly spinning the dial, Icon scanned the shifting alien images. So far, the Omnitrix still seemed to be in working order. He stopped when he reached Diamondhead's image. Icon gulped, "Please still work."

Two hands slammed onto two dials and two flashes of green light flared through the room.

Charmcaster's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, there's _two _of them now?"

The stone creatures actually stopped and hesitated at their master's alarm.

"Surprised?" Gwen crossed her arms in an unusually smug fashion.

"What am I?"

Gwen's satisfaction evaporated. She turned her head around to see Ben as Four Arms while Icon was now a creature resembling a humanoid plant.

"Wow!" exclaimed Ben. "You're Wildvine!"

"Wildvine?" Icon was examining his clawed hands in bewilderment. He had never even seen this creature on the Omnitrix dial before, much less transformed into it.

Charmcaster looked to the stone creatures, "What are you waiting for? Attack!"

The stone creatures obeyed and resumed their charge.

"Hope I can make this work…" Icon nervously positioned himself for the upcoming fight.

"You're Icon!" burst Ben confidently. "You're _going _to make it work!"

Two of the stone creatures leapt out at them. Acting on the instincts that came with Wildvine's form, Icon shot out his elastic arms and snatched the creatures out of the air before smashing them together.

Ben smiled. "See! What'd I tell ya?"

The bulk of the stone creature pack quickly closed in.

Gwen raised her hands. "Saphirius Expectorium Perpetua!"

The creatures made contact with a barrier of wind and were repelled. They sailed through the air and shattered against the tile floor.

Charmcaster's eyes widened with disbelief. "No…you couldn't have…"

"Learned some stuff from your spell book?" Gwen smirked at her rival's expression. "Yeah, I did."

Charmcaster unconsciously took a step back in light of the situation. Facing Ben was bad enough, but now she was also facing both an improved opponent and an entirely new one. She shook her head to snap herself out of her reverie and begun digging in her bag, there was no way she was going to give these people the satisfaction.

However, her hesitation had already cost her.

In a near blink of an eye, Icon used his new agility to rush in and seize Charmcaster with his elongated hands. Her arms were bound to her body and she was lifted off the floor.

"Let me go!" protested the silver haired sorceress.

"What's her story?" inquired Icon, his Titan training kicking in again.

"She's an apprentice magician," explained Gwen as she watched Charmcaster struggle. "But she's also a big crook!"

"Let me go!" repated Charmcaster. "Or else!"

"Or else _what_?" curtly asked Ben.

Charmcaster glared dangerously. "My _uncle_, that's what!_"_

Icon cocked his head in puzzlement. "Your uncle?"

"Vearte Morta Nata!"

A stream of energy suddenly flashed through the air and struck Icon. He lost his hold on Charmcaster and was sent flying into a totem pole, knocking it over. Icon wasted no time in pushing himself up to get a look at whatever struck him. Floating in midair was a staff-wielding figure who was staring daggers at Icon. He was an old man dressed in a black and red cloak. His face was covered in black and white make-up, giving a skull-like appearance.

"Like I said," Charmcaster's voice was full of content, "My uncle Hex."

"Snap…" Somehow, Icon felt that Hex would be a little more challenging than his niece.

Hex raised his staff for another attack. "Vearte—"

"Sinnyu Invisibus!"

Hex was stopped his attack and looked over his shoulder. He wasted no time in casting a shield to protect himself from the broken remains of the stone creatures that had been sent in his direction. The shield held out just long enough to then protect him from Four Arms, who slammed into Hex's barrier with enough force to send the sorcerer crashing into the other side of the hall.

"Stay away from him!" Gwen had rushed over and placed herself squarely between Hex and Icon.

"Yeah!" Ben joined Gwen and was cracking his knuckles menacingly at Hex.

Max looked at his two grandchildren in astonishment. It had been a while since he had seen them this united.

Charmcaster decided to take advantage of the distraction created by Hex. After taking a quick look at her surroundings, one particular exhibit caught her eye. A cruel smile worked its way across her face as an idea came to her. She raised a hand towards the exhibit of interest. "Actum!"

A cloud of pink energy poured out from her hands and began flowing onto Sue, the tyrannosaurus skeleton. The energy seeped into the petrified bones and the giant fossil started to move on its own.

"Uh oh..." Max watched as Sue broke free from her supports. For the first time in over 65 million years, the dinosaur let out a terrific roar. Icon, Ben, and Gwen turned around in dread.

"Double snap…" gulped Icon.

Hex smiled at his niece's ingenuity. Also deciding to make use of the museum's items, Hex waved his staff at a pair of stuffed African bull elephants. "Actum!"

Red energy spilled out of the staff and engulfed the two long dead animals. The energy quickly disappeared into the large gray bodies and the tremendous pachyderms trumpeted to life.

Icon's single eye widened in alarm. "Triple snap!"

The two bull elephants bellowed and charged forward. Hex used the opportunity to slink away.

"I've got this!" declared Ben. He bounded forward and succeeded in grappling one of the elephants by its front.

The remaining elephant continued its charge and made for Gwen and Icon. Gwen shifted her feet and raised both of her hands. "Twista Combetitus!"

The elephant collided with a giant glowing blue cobra that had materialized from Gwen's hands.

"_Wow._" Icon looked on in astonishment.

"Thanks!" Gwen secretly smiled to herself.

"AH!"

Ben, Gwen, and Icon turned their heads to see Max trying to avoid being stomped by Sue.

"Grandpa!" simultaneously yelled Ben and Gwen.

"Mr. Tennyson!" panicked Icon. He ran as quickly as his five tentacle-like legs could carry him. "Hang on, I'm coming!"

Sue paused up hearing the outburst and shifted her attention from Max to Icon.

Icon grabbed a clutch of seedpods from his back as his new alien instincts began kicking in again. He hurled the seedpods, which exploded upon coming into contact with the fossilized tyrannosaur's face. Despite the lack of eyes and other sensory organs, Sue reared back from the released clouds of spores. Icon wasted no time picking up Max with one elastic arm while shooting the other one up towards a railing on the second floor. He pulled the both of them up and safely deposited Max onto the upper level.

"There you go!" assured Icon. He hopped back down to the first level and squared off against Sue. The tyrannosaur fossil lunged forward and made to take a massive bite. Icon thought that he would have to leap completely out of the way, but he found that he was able to stretch out of the way. "I'm _limber _now!"

Sue continued to snap at Icon, but he was able to keeping ducking and stretching out of harm's away. He eventually retaliated by swiping the dinosaur across the face. The blow had little effect and only served to infuriate Sue.

"Oh boy!" Icon gulped when Sue reared back and let out an angry roar. He was quickly forced to redouble his efforts to avoid the dinosaur's teeth.

Up above, Max was tightening his grip on the rail as continued to watch the fights below. If only he had brought something from the Rustbucket, then he could do something! Maybe he could use something that was lying around as a makeshift weapon. Max turned around and was about to go off searching for something when he saw a t-rex skull in a labeled display case.

_Why isn't Sue's Skull With The Rest of Her Skeleton? _

_This is Sue's real skull. At 600 pounds (272 kg) it's too heavy to be supported with the structure that holds the skeleton. So the real skull is here and a replica is downstairs. _

An idea struck Max. The skeleton downstairs may have been sporting an artificial and relatively lighter skull, but it probably still weighed a lot. He could still help with one of the fights. Max turned back to face the battle below. "Icon! Sue's top heavy! Get rid of her tail!"

Icon heeded the advice. After Sue she made another lunge, he leapt over her head and quickly crawled across the dinosaur's back. He used his tentacle-like legs to anchor himself on the skeleton and wrapped his elongated fingers around the base of the tail. "Sorry about this, Field Museum." Icon grimaced as he twisted and twisted until…

CRACK!

The tail broke off and fell to the floor. Sue, now without a tail, could no longer balance herself. After a bit of stumbling about, she fell over onto the floor.

"Got ya!" After a bit of struggling Ben had managed to seize the elephant he had been facing by the trunk. Using the full extent of his Tetramand strength, he started swinging the elephant around. He let go and sent the elephant flying through the museum's back entrance.

The second elephant, after making another charge at Gwen's energy barrier, finally succumbed and collapsed.

"Phew!" breathed Gwen as she let her shield down. "Some exhibits."

Max looked over the railing and his eyes widened upon noticing something. "I don't see Hex or Charmcaster!"

There was suddenly a loud shattering noise from the direction of the _Civilizations of the Americas_ exhibition.

XXX

"So, what exactly are these again?" Charmcaster looked intently at the codices that were in Hex's hand.

"Things which may provide us answers." Hex was gazing at the codices with intense desire.

"Hey!"

Hex and Charmcaster turned to see both the Tennyson kids and Icon standing at the entrance to the room.

"I'll take care of this!" Charmcaster started digging around in her bag.

"What are you two doing with those?" demanded Icon.

"That is none of your concern." Hex stashed the codices underneath his sash.

"Give those back!" Icon rushed forward.

Charmcaster withdrew her hand from her bag and threw a barrage of stones. The stones cracked and miniature versions of the stone creatures that had previously appeared. However, the creatures did not remain small and actually grew to adult size in a matter of moments.

Icon gave an aggravated shout and started swiping at any stone creature he could reach. After he felt that he was not making enough progress, he shot an arm to the ceiling and swung towards Hex.

"Whoa!" Ben watched as Icon grappled with Hex's staff and tried wrestling it out of the sorcerer's hands in a rather aggressive manner.

"He's mad," gulped Gwen.

"He's _toast_," sneered Charmcaster as she positioned her hands in Icon's direction. "Mercuchus Veridai—"

"Badickinis Metalalurca!"

Metal poles that were supporting rope barriers flew at Charmcaster and wrapped around her as if they themselves were rope. The sorceress fell to the floor with a thud.

"_Back off!_" Gwen was now angrily looking down at Charmcaster. She was half in mind to kick her opponent, but Ben smashing one of the stone creatures brought her attention to other enemies, prompting her to leave Charmcaster where she was.

"Why do you even want the codices?" Icon was still wrestling with Hex's staff and interrogating the magician all the while.

Hex curled his lip in a sneer. "As if I would tell a mere mortal like yourself."

Icon dug his five tentacle-like feet into the ground and with as much strength as he could muster he started shoving Hex back. He pushed Hex well out of the sections devoted to Mesoamerica and Central America, and into sections designated for South American civilizations. Icon pinned Hex right into a posted drawing of an Incan road system.

"Give them back _now…_" Icon was gritting his teeth so hard that he looked like he was on the verge of chipping a tooth.

Hex peered at Icon in interest. "They mean that much to you? Why?"

"I've got my reasons." Icon was not about to give personal information to someone like this thief. "What about you?"

"Books contain knowledge," stated Hex. "The ones here may tell me where I may find what I have been searching for."

"What's that?" Icon's glare vanished when an all too familiar blaring noise emanated from a dial on his chest. He reverted to his human form in a flash of red light.

Hex freed his staff from Icon's grip and seized the boy by the front of his shirt. He leaned in close to Icon's face. "Its first seekers knew it as _el agua de vida_!" Hex's fist on Icon's shirt glowed with a red aura that quickly enveloped the teen's body. The sorcerer released his hold on Icon, who remained floating in midair. Hex sharply waved his still glowing hand.

Icon was suddenly sent flying back towards the Mesoamerican section. His back slammed right into a circular stone calendar. Without warning, odd green lights burst from the glyphs on the calendar, as if reacting to Hex's magic. A powerful sensation of pain and vigor tore through Icon's body. The lights faded and he fell face down onto the floor, losing consciousness.

**Author's Note: "El agua de vida" translates into "the water of life." Hex was referring to the fountain of youth. Yes, I'm aware the fountain of youth is normally associated with Florida and the Caribbean rather than the Yucatan peninsula. However, the Yucatan peninsula does have a coast that runs along the Caribbean. For the sake of the story, Hex could have been hoping that the ancient Mayans knew of a fountain of youth. I apologize for any historical inaccuracies.**

**P.S. While the codices of Uxmal are fictional, Uxmal is a real location.**


	18. The Serpent's Warning

_Icon was in a dark void. He couldn't explain how or why, but he felt like he was standing on something solid. "Where am I?" he wondered out loud. _

_ A bright light came from out of nowhere and filled the void. When the light faded, the dark void was gone and a new piece of scenery. _

_Icon's eyes widened in shock. "Jump City?" _

_It was Jump City. Or at least, it appeared to be Jump City. He could see the office buildings, the pizza parlor, and even Titan's Tower in the distance. "I'm back?"_

_Icon paused when he saw something else a short distance away. Standing in front of him with her back to him was a familiar blonde haired girl._

_"Terra!" _

_The geomancer began walking away at the outburst. _

_"Terra, wait!" Icon ran after her._

_She continued walking._

_"I just want to talk!" _

_ She stopped in her tracks. _

_Icon felt like sighing in relief. His sigh was cut short when she turned around. Terra was wearing an uncharacteristic smirk and her eyes were reflecting something dark._

_Icon stopped in his own tracks and hesitated. "Terra...?" _

_Suddenly, the ground under Terra's feet exploded around her like a geyser in a burst of yellow light. The cement, rock, and dirt enveloped Terra's body to form a giant solid mass. The mass then molded into a lean yet solid humanoid. _

_"Whoa!" Icon unconsciously took a few steps backwards. The stone giant outstretched a glowing yellow palm and Icon's feet inexplicably sunk into the street, immobilizing him. He tried struggling to free himself but to no avail. The stone giant started advancing._

_Icon looked to the Omnitrix. The hourglass symbol on the dial was still red. "Snap!" He looked up despairingly at the towering golem that was coming ever closer. _

_A series of green bolts of energy, a blue energy beam, a barrage of explosive disks, and levitated objects struck the giant. Icon looked over his shoulder and his heart skipped a beat. _

_Rushing in his direction were the Titans! _

_Icon couldn't have been happier to see them. "Guys!" _

_The Titans went past him, not even seeming to notice him. _

_"Guys…?" Icon looked on confused as the Titans engaged the stone giant. His puzzlement quickly turned into horror when he saw what happened next. _

_After repelling the Titans with a series of blows, the giant raised its two fists and smashed them into the ground. A massive crevice formed and traveled through street. Two of the Titans were unable to get out of the way._

_"BEAST BOY! CYBORG!" Icon watched as two of his friends plummeted down into the fissure. _

_Starfire came zooming back in and unleashed a large wave of starbolt energy from eyes. The stone giant did not so much as flinch and as soon as the Tamaranean was close enough it struck her hard with a rock solid arm._

_"STARFIRE!" The said teammate was knocked unconscious and fell like a rock into the crevice. _

_The stone giant puffed out its chest and a mass of loose dirt extended and shot out._

_"RAVEN!" The dirt mass snared the sorceress like an appendage and pulled her into the giant. _

_The behemoth went on to finish the battle by launching a slab of earth from its body. _

_"ROBIN!" The team leader was knocked straight into the crevice. "NO!" Icon could not believe his eyes. The entire team had been wiped out in one felled swoop. It was unreal, horrendous…nightmarish._

_A cold-hearted laugh filled the air. Icon looked from the crevice to see that the stone giant was laughing at what had happened. _

_"Why...?" he asked weakly. "Why did you—" Icon froze when he got a better look at the stone giant's face. It resembled mask with an opening for a single eye. There was something familiar about that mask and now that he thought about it there was something equally familiar about that golem's laugh. Icon shook his head in disbelief. "It's you…" _

_The golem stopped laughing and gave Icon a piercing look. "It's me all right," its deep voice was smooth and sinister, "To think, you actually had a chance to be my new apprentice, but you blew it," it moved closer and began reaching out for Icon, "And now, you're going to pay!"_

_A tremendous roar filled the air. For the first time ever, a glint of fear flashed through the golem's single eye. Dark clouds inexplicably gathered in the sky and an odd wind picked up. Suddenly, an incredible cyclone tore through the sky and struck the stone giant. The giant let out a piercing scream as it was reduced to a pile of rubble by the powerful gale. The wind died down as soon as it came. _

_"Okay…that was weird." Icon's recent grief was slightly lessened by mystification. _

_"That is a matter of perspective," said a booming voice. Icon's jaw dropped. Descending from the clouds was a long serpentine figure. It slithered through the air until it was level with the ground. Icon found himself looking up into the eyes of a green-feathered dragon-like creature. He simply stared at it, astonished and lost for words._

_"You know of me," noted the creature. _

_"Y-you're—," Icon was having trouble finding his voice again, "You're Quetzalcoatl!" _

_"I go by many names." The feathered serpent exhaled and a peculiar air current flowed around Icon's ankles. The cement trapping the boy's feet crumbled. _

_"T-thank you." Icon freed his feet from the rubble. He quickly found himself staring at the Mesoamerican deity again. "Am I…dreaming this?" _

_Quetzalcoatl reared up. "You doubt what you see?"_

_Icon cringed. "Well, it's just that..."_

_"You did not think I even existed." A corner at the deity's mouth gave a small upward twitch. "Not unusual for one of your day and age. But yes you are experiencing a vision."_

_"Vision?" questioned Icon. "So, this isn't real?"_

_"I exist!" thundered Quetzalcoatl. "The rest is a manifestation of what may come to pass." _

_"You mean the future?" _

_"When you made contact with the calendar in the museum, you were still coated with the energy from a Yawa Tacsip sorcerer. This reawakened the dormant energy that had been sealed away in it, giving you this vision."_

_"So nothing I saw happened…" Icon began taking it all in. "But why are you here?"_

_"You fought to protect a people's history," Quetzalcoatl's voice was solemn, "I am here to reward you for your deed."_

_"Y-you are?" stuttered Icon. "Uh, I mean, thank you…" _

_"I give you the gift of my counsel. Young man, your intentions for staying to protect the boy and his kin are noble…but you have been hiding from yourself."_

_"Hiding?"_

_"You have been avoiding the truth!" _

_Icon cringed. "…You mean…not telling the Tennysons everything…don't you?"_

_"That is only half of it," stated Quetzalcoatl. "You have also forsaken others."_

_Icon guiltily looked down at himself. "I know…I left the Titans. But it's not like I never wanted to go back, it's just…" He clenched his hands before looking back at the deity before him. "How can I face them again after everything that happened? I almost got them—" _

_"And yet, you sought your former companion, the geomancer." Quetzalcoatl leaned his head in. "Why do you believe you did so?"_

_"I don't know…" Icon paused for a moment. "Or maybe I do. I guess I just wanted to see if I could fix something." _

_Quetzalcoatl's eyes narrowed. "Rios, beware her. She may no longer be the companion you remember." _

_The surrounding environment suddenly started to change. Buildings and structures started to become distorted while others simply began vanishing._

_"What's going on?" Icon looked around in a panicked manner. _

_"You're regaining consciousness." Quetzalcoatl was slowly fading away. "Heed these words, accept what has passed, the truth will liberate you. But most importantly, RETURN!" _

XXX

"Icon! Come on, get up!"

"Please!"

"Whuh?" The said person of interest awoke to the sensation of a cold hard tile floor pressing against his face. He could also feel being shaken by his shoulders. Icon groggily pushed himself up onto his knees as two sets of arms helped him to sit up.

"Are you all right?" fretfully asked Gwen.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Ben anxiously held his hand out in front of Icon's face.

"F-four. I'm ok." Icon placed a hand onto his throbbing head. "Wh-what happened?"

"Hex knocked you out!" explained Ben. "But don't worry, we got him!"

Icon looked over the heads of the two ten-year olds to see Hex lying on the floor. The sorcerer was wrapped almost completely in metal poles. Charmcaster was still equally immobile.

"Wow…" Icon's eyes widened at the newfound heavy handiness of the two cousins. He made to stand up but was overwhelmed by a sudden lightheadedness. The Tennyson children quickly worked to catch him.

XXX

"…So yeah, this pretty much hasn't been my _worst._" Sometime later, Icon was lying on the bottom bunk in the Rustbucket. He was on bed rest, _again._ Ben and Gwen were seated at his bedside and had just finished listening to him recount a past experience with the Titan obstacle course.

"You broke your _skull?_" Gwen made a mortified face.

"_Ouch!" _Ben flinched at the thought and unconsciously rubbed the side of his head.

"Yeah, ouch." Icon actually winced at his own memory. He looked at the prototype Omnitrix, the device that would time out on him at the worst possible moments. "What am I going to do with this?"

"There's always the Master Control," Ben said wistfully.

Icon sat up a little. "Master Control? What's that?"

"Aw, it's great! It's this thing you can unlock by pushing these buttons." Ben pointed to the Omnitrix on his own wrist for emphasis. "If you get it, you can stay alien for as long as you want!"

Icon's eyes widened. "You mean…no time limit?"

"Yeah! And that's just half of it!" Ben was getting exciting. "You don't even have to _touch _the Omnitrix, you can turn into any alien you want by just thinking it!"

"Really?" Icon sat up even straighter.

"Really!" assured Ben.

"Wait, how do you know about it?" Last time Icon had checked, Ben had not demonstrated any of the abilities granted by the Master Control.

Ben made a face. "I _had _the Master Control. But I zeroed it out when Vilgax tried getting it."

"Well, maybe we can find it together." Icon looked between the Omnitrixes excitedly. "How about this? We write down different combinations and try them out until—"

"There's over a million combinations," added Gwen.

"_Oh_." Icon flopped back onto the bed, genuinely crestfallen. He had been looking so forward to the idea of having true control over his Omnitrix.

"Dinner's ready!" The three youths turned to the kitchen area to see Max pulling out some plates. "Feeling any better, Icon?"

"Better than I was before," assured Icon.

"You're sure?"

Icon placed his feet over the bed, tentatively put some weight on his feet, and hesitantly stood up. As far as he could make out, his head was longer spinning as much. "Yep, I'm sure."

"Good to hear." Max placed lidded serving bowls on the table.

Ben and Gwen followed Icon to the table and took their seats. "What's for dinner?"

Max lifted one of the lids.

The eyes of the two ten-year olds widened. "Grasshoppers?"

"Toasted," stated Max. "They're called _chapulines. _I thought they would fit with some of the stuff we saw at the museum today."

"People ate this stuff?" Ben incredulously looked on as his grandfather picked up a spoon and delivered portions of the grasshoppers to his plate.

"People still do." Max lifted the lid of the next serving bowl. Ben and Gwen sighed in relief when they saw a steaming mound of rice. The two did not hesitate to eat the next course when it was served to them. It had been a while since the two cousins had seen a familiar looking dish.

Icon peered at the serving of rice he had been given. Among the granules were small white bean-like objects. "Say Mr. Tennyson, are these ant eggs?"

Ben and Gwen stopped in mid swallow.

"They are. Good eye, Icon."

Unable to further resist their bodily reflexes, Ben and Gwen swallowed their most recent mouthfuls. "What?"

Max and Icon couldn't help but laugh upon seeing the shocked faces of the two cousins. For a moment, any worry in Icon's mind, which had been plaguing him since his meeting with Quetzalcoatl, was pushed aside.

**Author's Note: Both toasted grasshoppers and ant eggs mixed with rice are indeed real dishes. **


	19. The Truth

It was dark out. Inside the Rustbucket, three people were asleep. Just outside the Rustbucket, one person was still awake.

Icon was fretfully pacing just outside the parked vehicle. No matter how hard he had tried, he had been unable to sleep. Every time his mind had drifted off into sleep, he would relive the horrifying vision he experienced at the Chicago Field Museum. He was thankful that the parking lot was practically empty; he wouldn't have wanted anyone to see him like this.

"I have to go back…" Icon continued pacing. "But how can I? I can't just—" He groaned before running his hands through his hair in frustration. How _could _he return to the Titans? How could he even show his face again after the amount of time he had been gone?

But what about what he had seen at the museum, Quetzalcoatl's message?

"Wait, what am I doing?" Icon took his hands out of his hair and stopped in his tracks. "I'm acting like this because of something I saw after getting knocked out! I could've been hallucinating!"

The moment the words left his mouth, an odd wind suddenly picked up. Goosebumps broke across his skin when he heard what sounded like an irritated animalistic growl carry through the air. "Okay…that was something…" Icon swallowed.

"You're still up?"

Icon nearly jumped before turning around to look around at the now opened Rustbucket door.

"Mr. Tennyson?" Icon had not been expecting to see the man. "W-what are you doing—I mean, I didn't wake you up did I?"

"You didn't," assured Max as he silently closed the Rustbucket's door. "What are _you _doing up?"

"Me?" Icon hesitated. "…I guess I just couldn't get to sleep."

"Something on your mind?"

"Yeah, you could say they that," sighed Icon.

Seeing that they were alone, Max decided to finally start prying for the answers he had been looking for. However, he would take things slowly. "So, what is it?"

"What is it? Well… " Icon tried thinking of an explanation that wouldn't reveal absolutely everything. "It's like this; I might have to go back the Titans soon. Some stuff came up…and they might need the whole team to take care of it."

Max wouldn't have even needed his training to catch the nervousness in Icon's voice. "So what's the problem?"

"Uh…It's just that Warp and those robot commandos are still out there. I'm not sure if I could just leave you guys."

"We could just go with you to Jump City, simple as that," stated Max. "I'm sure the other Titans would understand."

Icon fidgeted. "Yeah, well, I guess…"

Max began going in for the kill. "Besides, the whole point of your recon mission was to look for something like this."

Icon could have responded in a number of ways. But for some reason, perhaps under the stress he had put himself under, he answered in one of the worst manners possible.

"Recon mission? Oh yeah, that!" Upon realizing how he had said it Icon had tried to correct his mistake. But it was too late.

Max crossed his arms and gave a stern look. "Icon, there _is_ no recon mission, is there?"

"W-what?"

"Look, I've been around long enough to know when something is up," said Max. "When we first met, you seemed pretty uptight about something. Plus, Thunder and Lightning didn't even seem to think you _were_ on a recon mission."

Icon unknowingly cringed.

"Either this is a big misunderstanding, or you're hiding something. Which is it?"

Icon heaved a sigh. "Ok Mr. Tennyson, you've caught me… You're right, I was never on a recon mission."

"Then what's going on?" demanded Max.

"I…left on my own."

"_Because?_"

Icon turned his head away from Max. "Because I messed up…_big time_."

Max's expression softened upon hearing the ache in Icon's voice, "Messed up?"

"It's…kind of a long story," sighed Icon.

Max looked toward a picnic table that had been set out for passing travelers, "Maybe we could sit down for this."

"Thanks." Icon followed Max to the table and took a seat beside him.

"Well, what's your story?"

Icon gathered himself for a moment. It was time to stop running and time to face up to the truth, "It all started after I joined the Titans. At first, everything was going great. I was able to work with the team and I was actually able to do something with myself."

"What happened then?"

"Well, one day I met this mutant named Kevin—"

"Wait!" Max's posture immediately straightened. "Was his name Kevin _11_?"

"I-it _was!_" Icon's own posture straightened. "You knew him?"

"I trapped him in the Null Void with Vilgax!"

"What?" Icon was shocked.

"Looks like I've got some story telling to do too," said Max grimly. "Kevin was someone that Ben and Gwen met in New York City. But unlike most people, he had the ability absorb energy…. He's probably part Osmosian."

"Osmosian?" Icon was perplexed.

"They're humanoids with the ability to absorb matter and energy. Kevin wanted the Omnitrix for himself, but he wound up absorbing energy from it instead. He eventually lost control of it and mutated."

"How did he wind up with Vilgax?"

"As far as I know, they met each other and found a common enemy in us. We fought them and trapped them both in the Null Void."

"But how did Kevin get out?"

"That's what I'd like to know," said Max tensely. "You'd need the technology to access the Null Void, that's not something you can just find on Earth."

"Well, all I know is that he just popped up one day and tried _annihilating_ me right after we met," huffed Icon.

"I think can explain that," Max stated. "If Osmosians absorb energy that they can't control they become mentally unstable."

"So Kevin wasn't too experienced?"

"Doubt it, he isn't that much older than Ben and Gwen."

Icon's face slackened. "A _kid_…?"

"I know, it's shocking," sadly sighed Max.

"Ah man," Icon heaved a distressed moan and partially buried his face in the palm of his hand, "This makes what happened even worse!"

"Makes what worse?" Max was not comfortable with the tone Icon had suddenly taken.

"What happened between me and Kevin," groaned Icon. "And then there's still what happened with Terra."

"Terra?" Max raised his head in interest, "The other new Titan?"

The plumber remembered now. There were supposed to have been _two _new Titans. He knew this because Ben had once practically shoved a newspaper article about the two new additions in his face.

"Yeah, that's her," confirmed Icon. "My old 'travel buddy.' Or at least she _was _my buddy…"

"Icon, _what happened_?"

The teen took in another breath and began to recount the one of his most painful experiences yet.

**Author's Note: I apologize for the long delays. I owe these to school wor****k, the fatigue caused by school work, and writer's block. It's one of those situations where you have the story in your head but you simply have trouble filling in the details.**

**Anyways, I am now finally getting to the final flashbacks that will provide long awaited explanations.**

**P.S. In case anyone is wondering about references to wind, here are a few fun facts: While Quetzalcoatl was the creator god and the patron of priests and knowledge in the Aztec religion, he also had an aspect called Ehecatl, who was a wind god. **

**Bonus fact: Equivalents to Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, were also worshipped by a number of other Mesoamerican groups. This is partly what was being referred to in the previous chapter when Quetzalcoatl says that he goes by multiple names. **


	20. Icon's Memory: Old Foes

**Time: Past**

"I would like copies of Super Ninja Showdown Eight, Maniac Fury: Attack of the Protozoids, and Wicked Scary, please." Icon placed the said movie copies on a checkout counter. He was currently at a movie store, attempting to make some amends for destroying most of the Titan Tower main room, starting with replacing some of Beast Boy's lost movies.

He made the purchase and casually walked out of the store, carrying the merchandise in a plastic bag. After walking two blocks, Icon stopped and began looking at the corner of his eyes, scanning his surroundings.

"Nothing so far." He was about to start walking again when a shadow cast itself over him. Icon immediately looked up in search of whatever had just flown over. There was nothing. Icon put a hand in his pocket and innocently began whistling as he started walking again. He kept the act up for another block before stopping and surveying everything around him.

"Still nothing… " Icon growled under his breath as his impatience mounted. He had been walking around the city in broad daylight and so far _no one_ or _anything _had tried ambushing him. _"Come one, _I'm a sitting duck!"

A red laser bolt suddenly whizzed past his nose. Icon looked to the sky and saw a small squad of red insect-like droids flying in his direction. He glared, "You're really back."

Icon tossed the bag of movies into the branches of a close-by planted tree and ran for cover while quickly operating the Omnitrix. After a few moments of dodging laser fire, he was able to transform into a Petrosapien. Icon wasted no time in twisting around before unleashing a volley of crystal projectiles, felling some of the droids. When the remaining droids continued to zoom forward, he melded his arms into blades and sliced through the assailants.

All of a sudden, a barrage of laser bolts struck his diamond-hard exterior from behind. He looked over his shoulder to see a second and much larger group of insect-like droids flying in his direction. Icon was about to launch his own attack when a series of green starbolts, explosive disks, and a blue stream of sonic energy struck down a number of the machines.

Icon smiled to see the rest of the Titans coming in from the sides. The droids had fallen right into their trap!

Beat Boy swooped in as a large pteranodon and snatched at whatever droid he could get his beak and talons on. Starfire and Raven flew in and continued picking off the droids with starbolts and dark energy while Cyborg, Robin, and Terra instigated a ground assault.

Icon was about to join the fight when he suddenly heard a series of metal footsteps. Everyone briefly turned from what they were doing to see a squad of armed alien humanoid drones of varying sizes marching in their direction.

"I've got this!" announced Icon before running to meet the oncoming attackers. The humanoid drones opened fire but Icon's tough Petrosapien skin continued to protect him. He unleashed a wave of crystal projectiles and succeeded in skewering the drones on the frontline. The remaining drones kept progressing without hesitation until Icon smashed into their flanks, sending the smaller varieties in all directions.

One of the drones retaliated and threw a grenade at Icon's face, blinding him and actually cracking some of the facial crystals. A number of the larger drones took the opportunity to tackle Icon, attempting to wrestle him to the ground. When it seemed that they were about to succeed, they were suddenly impaled by spear-like structures that grew out from Icon's body. He shook off the lifeless mechanical bodies and converted his arms back into blades before hacking through the remainder of the drone regiment.

"See, now that's the kind of fight I like!_" _said a familiar snide voice from above. "The kind that's head-on!"

Icon scowled and looked up. Sure enough, Kevin was looking down at him from a perch on the top of a two-story building.

"Well," Kevin flew off of his perch and zoomed forward on his Lepidopterran wings, "Time for round three!" He flew straight into Icon and smacked him across the street.

The commotion did not go unnoticed by the other Titans.

"Oh, _great!"_ growled Cyborg upon seeing Kevin, who was now squaring off against Icon.

"Terra! Beast Boy!" barked Robin. "Go help Icon!"

Terra produced a levitating stone transport and rushed towards the scene as Beast Boy flew at Kevin.

"Don't even think about it!" Kevin waved his volcanic Pyronite hand and sprayed a stream of flames at the oncoming fighters, forcing them to back away. Icon used the distraction to run in and smash a rock hard fist into his opponents face, breaking Kevin's concentration and ending the fiery assault. Kevin was quick to retaliate and released a series of blows, which Icon returned with equal intensity.

The melee abruptly ended when Kevin was rammed into by a green triceratops. He was sent rolling down the street before being flung into the air by a pillar of earth that grew from beneath him. Kevin swiftly engaged his wings and flew back around at his rivals, only to be met by barrages of rocks and Petrosapien crystals. He did his best to dodge the projectiles and endured whichever ones struck. After a few more moments, he found that he had been shepherded into Beast Boy's awaiting pteranodon claws, whose wicked kicks sent Kevin crashing into the ground.

Icon, Terra, and Beast Boy were about to move in to fully subdue Kevin and finish the fight when a large laser bolt cut off their path.

Incredibly loud clanking noises were coming from an adjacent street. The trio turned their heads in the direction of the sounds. Their eyes widened in alarm. Walking on its three insectoid-legs was a large, 30-foot tall robotic drone.

"Ah snap…" Icon tensed.

Beast Boy reverted to his human form and looked up at the drone in disbelief, "This is going to be a tough one, isn't it?"

"Yep."

Terra balled her fists, focusing her energy, "Got any suggestions?"

Before he could answer, Icon was suddenly knocked off his feet by a powerful stream of slime.

"Aren't you forgetting about something?"

Icon picked himself up to see that Kevin was back on his feet and was now menacingly cracking his knuckles. "We're not finished yet!"

Before anyone of them could respond to Kevin, the three were forced to run into an alley to avoid several large laser bolts that were fired by the giant drone.

"We can't take them _both_ on like this!" said Terra.

Beast Boy gave a shrug. "Guess we'll have to split it up."

"Leave Kevin to me…" growled Icon before bolting back out the alley. He ran towards Kevin as Terra and Beast Boy went to head off the giant drone.

"Just the two of us again!" Kevin flexed all four of his arms before happily charging forward. Icon responded by applying his hands to the street and grew a moving crystal wall from the appendages. The wall struck Kevin, who took to the air again after being repelled. The mutant flew over the wall, swooped down, and snatched Icon. Kevin flew upwards and swung Icon around before throwing him into a building. The Titan smashed into the building and was buried under a heap of debris.

"Aw, come on," Kevin landed in front of the building, "Don't tell me it's over all already!"

Icon burst out of the rubble. "This fight is just getting started!"

"Glad to hear it." Kevin bared a toothy grin as he fired a wave of crystal shards. Icon mirrored the action and the opposing projectiles met with a series of loud cracks. The moment the last crystal fell to the ground, the two fighters charged at each other. When they were close enough, Icon and Kevin seized each other's hands.

However, Kevin still had two more hands to spare, "Got ya!"

He used his two lower arms to grab and lift Icon by under his arms.

Icon leaned in and rammed his diamond hard head into Kevin's face.

"Augh!" Kevin released his hold on Icon and stumbled backwards, clutching his injured face. When Kevin recovered enough to remove his hands, he saw Icon smugly tapping the side of his crystal head. He snarled at the taunt and flew back into the air. Kevin flew a short distance away, turned back around, and swooped down with an outstretched bladed crystal arm.

Icon melded his own arm into a blade and set to guard himself. He locked blades with Kevin, but the latter had gained enough momentum to knock him off his feet. He felt his back slam into a building.

"Ok, _now _I've got ya," hissed Kevin.

Icon tried breaking out of the lock but it was already taking all of his strength just to keep Kevin at bay. He was trapped.

"Any last words?" Kevin taunted.

It's not over yet!" retorted Icon. A loud blare suddenly filled the air.

Kevin's grin grew, "You were saying?"

Icon's own eyes widened in horror. In a few moments, he would revert to his human form. Kevin would then be able to slice and tear him into pieces with ease…

"NO!"

Without warning the ground beneath Kevin and Icon suddenly erupted with yellow energy, sending the two flying into the air.

Icon reverted to his human form before he fell onto the pavement and went skidding across the street. By the time he stopped skidding, his body was completely wracked in pain. He painstakingly turned his head at the sound of footsteps to see Kevin approaching him.

"You think _that_ hurts?" The mutant was menacingly cracking his knuckles, "You haven't felt anything yet!"

A green tyrannosaurus suddenly sent the mutant across the street with a powerful tackle. Kevin picked himself up to see that Beast Boy was now squaring off against him. Unfazed, he set himself to fight the Titan. But then for some odd reason he paused, gave a small glare, and flew into the air.

"Don't let him get away!" sounded Robin's voice.

Beast Boy transformed into a pteranodon again and flew after Kevin. But without warning another squad of flying robot drones swooped in seemingly out of nowhere and cut him off. It required a bit of effort, but Beast Boy was able to use his beak and claws to repel and disable the assailants. However, by the time the last droid fell Kevin was long gone.

XXX

"I am _SO sorry!" _ fretted Terra.

"I-it's ok," reassured Icon. "OW!"

The team had long since returned to Titans Tower. Icon was yet again in the medical ward receiving treatment from Raven as Beast Boy and Terra accompanied the patient.

"I don't know what happened. I was doing great, but I-I just lost control when I saw Kevin almost—"

"It's ok _really,_" repeated Icon. "Besides you single-handedly destroyed a giant robot and saved my skin—OW!"

"You mean the skin that didn't get scraped off, right?" commented Beast Boy.

"G-good one," Icon weakly laughed. Despite everything, Icon had been lucky enough to walk away with relatively minor injuries. He had sustained immense scrapes, equally massive bruises, and a very small bone fracture or two. Luckily, Raven had been able to heal the bone fractures. However, the numerous and rather painful bruises and scrapes were still being treated, "How do I keep doing this to myself?"

"The Omnitrix makes you accident prone," stated Raven. "It times out on you even when you still need it."

"Lucky me," sighed Icon.

XXX

Sometime later, the entire team was gathered around an examination table. Laid across it were the remains of several of drones that had been in Jump City.

"What do you two make of all this?" Robin was addressing Starfire and Cyborg.

"Judging from Icon's description of his journey with Professor Paradox," began Starfire. "I would say that these had been constructed by the Chimera Sui Generis."

"So…what are they like?" asked Beast Boy.

"I personally have had little contact with them. However," Starfire furrowed her eyebrows, "I recall once hearing of a particularly violent individual. He was said to be so feared that only machines could serve him."

"Come to think about it, I only saw robots working for the Chimera that Paradox showed me," mused Icon. "Could that have been him?"

"We could locate him and find out," Cyborg picked up one of the broken pieces of the alien drones, "If we can fix these things, we could trace whatever signals they were receiving back to their source."

Icon was dumbstruck, "You mean…we could bring the fight to whoever's controlling the robots?"

"We could finish it," assured Cyborg. "You won't have to worry about them ever again."

It was then that the alarm went off.

XXX

"Well, what's it this time?"

The team had arrived at a dark warehouse.

"Break in," stated Robin. "The police had their hands full, so they called us to take care of it."

"Is this an everyday break in or the kind where there's a super tough fight?" mused Icon. While he had been healed of most of his injuries, his body was still tender. A strenuous workout was the last thing he wanted at the moment.

"Now, now, what kind of job would it be for the Titans if they didn't have a challenge once in a while?"

The entire team stiffened at the sound of a cool, smooth voice. They looked up to see a lean figure looking down at them from a catwalk. It was a man who was wearing a unique black and copper mask that had a single eye opening.

Icon could feel the hairs on his neck standing up as a name began forming on his lips. It was a name that would become poison to him, a name that would symbolize a bane to his existence, a name he would both fear and revile. The name came out of him with a nervous gulp, "Slade."


	21. Icon's Memory: The Unexpected

Despite the fact that he was with the team, Icon unconsciously stepped backwards at the sight of Slade. He remembered all too well the show of force and cold-bloodedness that the man had intimidated him with in their first encounter. Well, technically Icon had confronted one of Slade's mechanical doubles, but the man himself still alarmed him.

"You shouldn't have come here!" Robin had already pulled out his bo-staff, glowering at Slade all the while.

"_Me?_" Slade raised his single eye in amusement. "I could say the same for you."

Crates all around the warehouse suddenly burst open to reveal squads of Slade's robot commandos.

"Titans, go!" As Robin made for Slade, the rest of the Titans split off to engage the enemy.

Icon quickly shifted through the alien forms on the Omnitrix before coming to a decision, "Looks like I'm going Petrosapien again."

He pressed down on the device's dial and was enveloped in a flash of green light. When the light died down, he found himself in the volcanic body of a Pyronite. Icon sighed to himself, "Meh, good enough."

Icon swung about and unleashed a burst of flames at an oncoming group of Slade's minions. He continued doing this to any android that got too close. Any android that got past the flames was subject to being battered by a volcanic fist. The fight was tough, but Icon's volcanic silicon-based skin was able to hold against the oncoming steel claws and laser bolts.

He was just about to engage another group when he heard something crash through a window.

"Out of my way ya little pipsqueaks!"

A stream of flames blocked off the approaching androids. Icon's body tensed when he turned to see Kevin 11 flying straight for him.

"He's _mine!_"

Icon was knocked back with such force that he was sent flying across the warehouse.

"Oh, a friend of yours, Icon?" mocked Slade while continuing with his fight with Robin on the catwalks.

"About as much of a friend as you are," muttered Icon as he picked himself up. He ignited his fists and unleashed a wave of flames to propel himself back at Kevin. The mutant responded by rampaging forward. The two clashed and repelled each other. Undaunted, the opponents made for each other again.

"I'm gonna get you this time!" Kevin wildly swiped at Icon.

"What for?" Icon retaliated with a swing of a molten fist. "Why are you even doing this?"

Kevin recoiled before shaking off the painful blow, "I told you before didn't I? I'm here for a fight!"

It was then Icon's turn to receive a blow, but like Kevin he was quick to recover, "That's it?"

"Well…" Kevin pretended to mull things over, "There's that and getting to totally waste you!"

Icon groaned, "I should've guessed."

Kevin raised his volcanic arm and released a stream of flames. Icon responded by discharging his own stream of flames from his hands. The two streams collided and exploded in their faces. The fighters were sent flying in opposite directions.

Icon skidded to a stop before propping himself up on his shoulders. What he saw surprised him: Kevin was actually wincing as he was getting back up.

**_Your volcanic skin has protected you! Your opponent on the other hand lacks such protection!_**

The Titan shook his head in mystification. That odd voice he had heard in Titan's tower was back again.

**_Even he is not immune to fire. Your current form might be able to subdue him! You could end this!_**

A peculiar rush of excitement filled Icon. He _could _defeat Kevin here and now! He could bring the mutant in! Like the voice said, he could end this!

"Hey, Kevin!" Icon leapt to his feet and ignited his molten fists. "Think you can take the heat!"

The mutant scowled. "Can _you?"_

Kevin raised his volcanic arm and released another wave of flames. Acting on his Pyronite instincts, Icon allowed the flames at his fists to dissipate and raised his arms. Like water to a sponge, the flames were absorbed into his hands.

"Can I handle it?" Icon gave a satisfied look at a disgruntled Kevin, "Well, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Yeah? Well, I've got a few tricks too!" Kevin raised his volcanic arm again, this time only igniting his palm. He placed his lit palm near his mouth as he spewed a torrent of green slime. To Icon's horror, the slime ignited to create a flaming viscous river that was coming towards him. He was barely able to gather enough time to return fire with a stream of flames.

Poor choice.

When Kevin and Icon's attacks collided, the impact sent pieces of burning slime flying all over the place.

"WHOA!"

The rest of the fighters were forced to do their best to avoid the flaming projectiles.

"AH!"

"AGH!"

Both Kevin and Icon looked up to the catwalks to see that both Robin and Slade had been struck by some of the burning slime. While neither had fallen over the walks, both of them now had to use the railings to support themselves in their pain.

"ROBIN!" yelled Starfire as she made to break through her opponents.

Icon looked on in panic. Robin, his leader, had been injured from his own fight with Kevin. If he hadn't been so preoccupied he would have noticed Slade giving Kevin an irritated look. He would have also noticed that the mutant was returning Slade's gaze with an uncharacteristically apprehensive one.

"Hang on, Robin!" Icon reignited his fists and made to move. "We're coming—" He was cut off when a blast of flames struck him in the back and knocked him over.

"Hey! We're not done here!"

Icon picked himself onto his knees to see Kevin glaring back at him. His opponent then looked up at the catwalks. A twisted smile broke across his features as an idea crossed his mind. "Aw, you worried about bird boy?" Kevin aimed his crystal arm at Robin. "I can take care of that—"

WHAM!

In an incredible burst of energy, Icon had launched himself at Kevin and had delivered to Kevin's jaw one of the hardest punches he had ever given. He then leapt and swept a flaming foot through the air, sending a wave of fire that actually knocked Kevin clean off of his feet.

"That thing you were about to do," Icon landed back onto the ground, "Don't even _think_ about it."

As Robin and Slade forced themselves back up to continue their fight despite their injuries, the latter could not help but give an interested glance at the fight between the Pyronite and the mutated Osmosian.

"Or else _what_?" snidely remarked Kevin.

Before Icon could even answer, something happened. The windows to the warehouse shattered and he felt himself knocked off his feet by multiple hot projectiles that slammed into his body. Icon then pushed himself onto his knees to see metal bodies flying into the building.

"No way!" Beast Boy shouted in disbelief.

Flying variants of the alien droids were now storming the area and were opening fire on whoever or whatever got in their way. A number of Slade's robots were cut down by the assault, but many more were able to dodge the oncoming laser bolts and began engaging the new enemy. Likewise, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Terra were now forced to adjust to having to fight two different varieties of opponents at once.

Icon wasted no time in getting back onto his feet before sending a few fiery blasts at a couple of robots that came in too close for comfort.

BAM!

Icon was knocked off his feet again by a stream of flames that struck him from behind.

"Hello? We're not done here…"

He scowled and looked around to see that Kevin was up and ready to fight again.

"Gah!"

Aggravation gave way to horror as Icon turned his head in the direction of the catwalks to see that a Robin had been dealt a rather vicious blow from Slade. While both of them were dealing with harsh injuries, not even Robin had Slade's absurd degree of stamina, putting the former at a disadvantage against the latter.

"Hey! Aren't you listening?" Kevin was becoming impatient with his opponent. "We're not done here—"

"I don't have time for this, Kevin!" snapped Icon shortly before propelling himself through the air with flames straight at the mutant.

BAM!

Icon delivered to Kevin a powerful tackle at near point blank range that sent him sprawling across the floor. He then shifted himself so that he was rocketing in the direction of the catwalks, Robin and Slade dead in his sights.

TSEW! TSEW!

Icon was shot straight out the air by alien droids that had come in from the sides. He went crashing to the ground with a loud crack. Fortunately though, his protective rock hard skin was still holding strong, and Icon was able to quickly get back onto his feet. He reignited his fists and prepared to break through the droids to get to Robin and Slade.

SLAM!

Kevin had rammed into him using his Kineceleran speed, sending the Titan into a wall. He got up again and made to fight Kevin, but he was once again knocked down by another volley of lasers from the droids.

Icon was trapped. No matter how he tried getting to Robin and Slade, either Kevin or the alien droids would just block his way. And if he tried fighting one opponent, the other would just knock him down. No matter how hard he fought, all he could do was helplessly watched a friend being worn down in a losing battle as he himself was being batted around.

VWOOSH! BOOM! CRACK!

Without warning, an incredible gust of wind filled the warehouse as the earth began shaking. Icon and Kevin struggled to maintain their balance as the nearby droids were swept aside by the strong gale. As he struggled to regain his footing, Icon began looking around for the source of the chaos. However, he already had an idea of what it was.

Kevin mirrored Icon's actions before coming across something. "Oh, come on, _her again—" _

The moment the last word left Kevin's mouth, the cement at their feet cracked open and jets of earth began spewing into the air with tremendous force. Two of the jets erupted from beneath Icon and

Kevin's feet, sending both flying through the air along with any alien droid or masked android that had been unlucky enough to get swept up by the wind or struck by the geysers of earth. Kevin was sent crashing through a window, while Icon sent into the rafters.

"Another day, Titans!" After parrying Robin off for the umpteenth time, Slade had decided to cut the fight short and run. While he was willing to fight when there was a four-way battle occurring, even he was not about to risk fighting when there was an active force that was threatening to destroy the battlefield.

"No you don't!" Despite his injuries, Robin was already making to pursue Slade. He might have caught up with Slade if an alien droid that had been swept off course by the gale hadn't crashed into him.

"ROBIN!"

The collision had sent him over the catwalk and into a pile of broken crates.

XXX

Later, Icon found himself standing near Starfire, Beast Boy, and Terra in the Titan's Tower medical bay.

The Titans had won the battle against both the masked androids and the alien droids. However, Slade had successfully gotten away. Likewise, Kevin had been nowhere to be found after the battle. At the moment, Cyborg and Raven were busy treating the team's one casualty.

"Ah!" Robin let out an uncharacteristic cry of pain as Cyborg tied one last bandage around his bruised and burnt torso.

Starfire winced at the sight before daring to ask something. "Will…Robin be alright?"

"I-I'm ok Star, really." Robin was doing his best to put on a reassuring face.

"It's nothing life threatening," assured Cyborg.

"But he's going to have to take it easy for a while," added Raven. Robin visibly grimaced at the last statement. Being unable to fight was the last thing he wanted now that Slade was at large again.

Icon chose at that moment to look at his feet, unable to look at his leader. Some of Robin's injuries were the _direct result _of his battle with Kevin. Sure, while Robin had accepted his incessant apologizing and even insisted that such injuries were an occupational hazard, there was still a sick feeling of guilt in the pit of Icon's stomach.

A loud bleeping noise suddenly filled the air. It was coming from the main room. Someone was contacting them through the main computer.

"I-I'll get it." Icon hastily left for the main room. He needed to get out of medical bay, if even for a little bit. He just couldn't bear to see the sight of something that he could have prevented. Robin would not have half of the injuries he had if it weren't for him, Icon. If only he had not been dumb enough to counter Kevin's stream of flaming slime with a blast of fire. Robin wouldn't have been weakened and he wouldn't have suffered at Slade's hands as much as he had. Now that Icon though about it even more, Robin could also have been spared a considerable amount of pain if he hadn't gotten himself trapped by both Kevin and the alien droids.

Such thoughts continued to plague him until he reached the main computer. Nagging guilt was replaced by attentiveness as Icon made to work the advanced piece of equipment.

"Let's see, I think I push these few buttons…" Despite the amount of time Icon had been in the tower, he was still getting used to working the computer. "…And I've got it!"

The computer screen flickered to life.

"Hello, Icon."

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw an all too familiar masked face looking back at him from the screen.

Slade actually laughed at Icon's response. "Are you really that surprised to see me?"

Icon nervously picked up his communicator and flipped it open. "Guys, you might want to get up here…it's Slade."

"SLADE?" rang a voice from the other end. Loud footsteps could suddenly be heard coming down from the hall along with a number of exclamations.

"Man, take it easy!"

"You are in no condition to—"

The automatic doors swished open to reveal Robin, who was now using every ounce of strength he still had just to keep himself on his feet. Behind him were the rest of the Titans, who were watching Robin as if he were about to collapse at any second.

"Ah, Robin," Slade became more professional, "Just who I wanted to see."

"What do you want?" Robin did his best not to limp to the main computer.

"I am calling on some rather important business, we can do without the hostilities," said Slade flatly.

Robin was actually taken aback by Slade's response. The man had never remarked on he was addressed like this. "Well?"

"It's about the new extraterrestrial presence in the city. Unless you've been living under a rock up until our most recent encounter, I'm sure you've had to deal with them on at least one other occasion."

"So what if we have?" asked Robin warily.

"Because like you, I have already had to deal with them a number of times before today."

"What?" Robin actually leaned forward.

"Th-they've been attacking you too?" Icon was just as surprised. "But I thought they attacked where the Omnitrix was…or at least close by."

"They've been attacking wherever there's been advanced enough technology!" Slade's voice was becoming uncharacteristically tense.

"Why are you calling _us?" _inquired Cyborg suspiciously.

Slade did the unexpected and actually hesitated for a moment. "The new enemy has driven me into a rather tight spot. Thanks to them, my forces are only a fraction of what they used to be. So I've come to you to make a proposal."

"What kind of proposal?"

Slade hesitated again. "As much as it pains me to say this…I propose that we work together, I need your help."


	22. Icon's Memory: When the Going Gets Tough

**Time: Past**

One would have been able to hear a pin drop.

"_What?" _Robin was the first one to recover enough from shock to respond.

"I know we've had some…_past differences_…but we now have a common enemy—"

"Do you really think we're going to trust you—Ah!" Robin's exclamation was cut short when his overexertion finally caught up with him. He would have crumpled to the floor if Starfire had not rushed in to catch him.

Slade nearly rolled his eye. "Robin, the last thing either of us can afford to do at the moment is to hold a grudge. I know I can't keep fighting more than one opponent at once and, judging from what I'm seeing, neither can you."

"We can take on anything you or those robots can throw at us!"

"A bold claim, but a claim nonetheless," responded Slade. "Tell you what, I'll give you all some time to think about it. Perhaps then you'll be thinking a little more clearly."

With that, Slade's image flickered away.

XXX

"You know, if Slade calls again, something tells me that Robin's going to tell him a bit of the alphabet." Beast Boy was scouring the shore before picking up a flat pebble.

"What's that?" absent mindedly said Icon, who was seated on a rock while watching the setting sun.

Beast Boy skipped his pebble across the ocean water in front of them. "N-O."

Icon gave a weak chuckle. "Good one."

Beast Boy's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at his teammate. That laugh was just a little too forced. "You okay?"

"Me?" Icon hesitated. "Y-yeah, I'm ok. I guess I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Kersplash!

The boys were suddenly splashed with ocean water.

"Ah! So sorry!"

They turned to see Terra looking shamefacedly back at them.

"What was that?" Icon was too surprised to even care that he had gotten a little wet.

Terra hesitated a little before letting out a sigh, "This…"

The geomancer focused her power on a flat pebble on the ground. She levitated it off the ground and skipped it across the water.

Beast Boy cocked his head, "That's it?"

"No," Terra looked surprised at herself, "It didn't go that smoothly last time. Maybe…my power is going back to normal!"

Deciding to celebrate, Terra went to skip another pebble with her geomancy. But then, to everyone's shock, the pebble shot off with so much force that it created a tremendous splash upon hitting the water, soaking everyone. Terra let out a defeated groan before sitting upon the ground.

"Terra?" asked Beast Boy in concern.

"I don't get it," Terra looked miserable, "I've been doing great, but now I'm losing control all over again!"

"Maybe you're just having an off day," suggested Beast Boy. "Besides, there's always tomorrow."

Terra sighed, "Tomorrow's what I'm afraid of…"

Icon sat up a little straighter when a thought or two occurred to him.

In his own self-pity that he had not even considered how Terra was feeling. She had lost control of her power twice in one day and on both of those occasions someone had been injured. Terra was likely blaming herself for some of Robin's injuries just as much as he was.

**Beast Boy is already taking care of Terra's problem. Focus on your own troubles for now.**

Icon's posture suddenly straightened even more so. Once again, what seemed to be a voice from the depths of his mind was speaking to him...

"Uh, Icon?" Beast Boy had noticed his friend's change in demeanor, "Something wrong?"

"I-it's nothing," Icon began fiddling with the Omnitrix, "I guess…I just need to go run a little bit."

With a flash of green light, Icon transformed into a Kineceleran and sprinted off. Perhaps he would feel better after some exercise and a good night's sleep.

XXX

Hours later, Icon found himself tossing and turning in his bed. Tried as he might, his mind would not drift off to sleep as troubling thoughts were still plaguing it. After one final toss and turn, Icon sat up in exasperation. He rubbed a hand down his face, "Oh boy…"

Deciding to try a new tactic to get some sleep, Icon got out of bed and grabbed a pencil and notebook. He tiptoed his way past everyone else's rooms before entering the moonlight lit main room. He sat himself down on the newly replaced sofa and flipped open his notebook. He intended to draw until his mind was eased enough to allow him to get some sleep. With a twirl of his pencil, he set himself to work.

Icon drew a picture of a Kinceleran, one of the first things that came to mind. But his mind was still awake. Undaunted, he then drew a Lepidopterran, an organism that was trickier to draw owing to its wings and extra limbs. His mind was still awake. Icon drew a Petrosapien, taking time to add as many details as possible to its crystal body. He still felt awake. He tried drawing more aliens, but it still wasn't enough. Icon then settled for drawing whatever came to his head…

"You're still up?"

Icon actually jumped a little before looking over his shoulder, "R-Raven? What are you doing up?"

Raven raised an eyebrow, "I could be asking you the same thing."

"You got me there," Icon sighed. "I just had a little trouble sleeping…and you?"

"I was out on the roof meditating," explained Raven as she took a seat by Icon. She gave him a careful look, "Icon, not to pry or anything…but are you feeling okay?"

Icon stiffened a little, "Uh, why do you ask?"

Raven gave him a look, "Icon, when I was out meditating, I saw you running around like crazy earlier as a blue alien dinosaur."

"What's so strange about that?"

"You ran around the tower _and_ the cityover _a hundred_ times. That's a lot of exercise, even for you."

Icon's eyes unknowingly widened, "I-I ran that much…?"

"You did," assured Raven. "And now you're out here, drawing in the middle of the night. If I had to guess, I'd say you're trying to get something out of your system."

The Omnitrix wielder seemed he had something in mind to say but hesitated doing so.

Raven decided her teammate needed a nudge, "Is this about Robin?"

Icon sighed, "Yeah, you could say that…"

"Icon, no one here blames you for what happened today, you shouldn't either."

"I know…part of me _does _know that. But it's like this other part of me that just—" Icon was too aggravated to speak for a few moments. "I just wish I hadn't been stupid enough to try and stop Kevin's attack like I did!"

Icon allowed himself to fall against the couch and, in his frustration, let his notebook to slip from his hands and onto the floor.

Raven took the liberty of picking up the now open notebook. She paused when a page caught her eye, "Hey, Icon, what's this?"

Icon looked at the drawing that Raven was now showing to him. It was a bird, a rather unique one. It had a small pointed beak and a relatively small body. On its head was a plume of feathers that was arranged almost like a crown. But its most distinct trait was its long tail feathers; they were easily twice as long as the bird's entire body.

Icon actually cracked a smile at the picture, "It's my drawing of a resplendent quetzal."

"A resplendent quetzal?" Raven turned the open notebook back to her to get another look at the drawing, "I don't think I'm too familiar it."

"It's a rare bird from North America," explained Icon.

"It's beautiful…" Raven actually looked transfixed by the pencil drawn image.

"You should see a color photo of one, they have these _amazing _green and red feathers," Icon looked out at the stars outside the main room window as if lost in himself, "But to see the real thing you'd have to take a trip to—"

At that moment Icon had casually looked back in Raven's direction to see that she had flipped to another page in the notebook. His mouth dried and his face to blanched to see a sketch of Slade's mask.

"I…forgot I even drew that." Icon had been so into drawing earlier that he had not been paying attention to just what he had been drawing.

"But you did draw it," noted Raven. She carefully looked between the drawing and Icon's face, which had discomfort written all over it, "This isn't just about Robin, isn't it?"

Icon was silent again as he tried finding his voice.

Raven decided that her teammate needed another nudge, "It's Slade, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Icon sighed. "I know I've only met him twice, but…he's just…really gotten under my skin."

"Well, he didn't exactly make the best impression by stalking and attacking you."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Icon unconsciously rubbed his left arm, the same one that Slade's robotic duplicate had nearly snapped like a twig in their first encounter. "I'm really hoping we don't have to work with him…"

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," assured Raven. "Robin trusts Slade about as far as he could throw him."

"That's good to know," breathed Icon in relief. However, he tensed again when another thought occurred to him, "Uh, just out of curiosity… has Slade ever attacked the tower?"

"He hasn't," answered Raven. "Don't worry, Slade's not going to come over here and try taking us all at once. He's not Kevin."

"I know," said Icon grimly. "And I think I'd actually rather take on _Kevin _than him…"

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah," Icon looked down at his feet as he began twiddling his thumbs, "Sounds pretty crazy right?"

"Not completely."

He stopped twiddling his thumbs and looked up to see Raven giving him a serious look.

"There isn't any reason for you not to feel worked up. What _is _crazy is how you're handling this. Keep up what you're doing and you're going to run yourself into the ground."

"Yeah, you're right," Icon let out yet another sigh as he sank back into his seat. "The alien robots, Kevin, _Slade_…I just wish I knew how to deal with them all."

"Well, if you want my advice, I'd try getting some sleep first," Raven set the notebook onto a seat cushion beside her as she got to her feet, "You'll be able to think better after a bit of rest."

Icon sighed in resignation, "Yeah, you're right…"

XXX

Later, in his bedroom, Icon found himself lying face down on his pillow, once again trying to get some sleep, and once again having difficulty in doing so.

"What am I going to do?" he grumbled into the pillow. In a matter of hours, he would be expected to get up and be prepared to carry out his civic duties. What was more, with Robin incapacitated, he and everyone else was going to have to work harder than before to compensate for it.

However, he was never going to be able to give it his best if he did not get any sleep first. But how could he? Even after his talk with Raven, he still couldn't get his mind to drift off into slumber.

The alien droids, Kevin, _Slade…_

How was he going to deal with them all?

**It's simple. Get stronger.**

Icon's eyes shot open as an idea struck him from seemingly out of nowhere.

**What you now call your best may no longer be good enough. Do as you have before and adapt, this time by getting stronger.**

It was clear to him now. He didn't need to look far for a solution; he had had one the whole time, the art of buckling down. It was a practice that had long since served him well.

Before the Omnitrix, when he was still a high school student, sitting down and pushing himself to do the work had gotten him good, solid grades. Then, when on the run from the alien droids, enduring battle after battle instead of giving up led to him becoming a better fighter. Dealing with Kevin, Slade, and the alien droids all at once would be no different an obstacle. He was just going to have to work a little harder.

With those thoughts in mind, Icon closed his eyes and snuggled back into bed. As soon as he had the spare time, he was going to begin a new training regimen, one that would hopefully help him to hone his skills.

XXX

As fortune would have it, the spare time that Icon was looking for was available the very next day. After the remaining team returned from a rather uneventful patrol around the city, finding neither Kevin nor the alien droids, Icon headed straight for the tower's depths. After navigating the tower's corridors, Icon found himself standing at the entrance of what appeared to be a large hi-tech gymnasium.

The Titan's Tower Training Room, just the place he needed.

He walked up to a control panel and proceeded to start pushing buttons. It took a bit of effort, but Icon was eventually able to get it to work the way the Titans had shown him when introducing him to the Tower's facilities. A moment or two after he pushed one last button, he looked up to see a squad of circular robots covered in bullseyes hovering above him.

Icon moved to the middle of the gymnasium and quickly worked the proto-type Omnitrix to transform into a Pyronite. He shifted into a fighting stance and ignited his fists as faced the training robots.

"Come at me and don't hold back," he uttered under his breath.

The robots flew at him.

XXX

**Time: Present**

"So you trained more to get stronger," stated Max as he processed the story Icon was telling him. "And all so you could beat three different opponents _and _help make up for one less teammate."

"Oh, I wanted to get stronger all right," sighed Icon. "I wanted _so badly _for things to be different the next time that I was out on the field. Next time, I wanted to be able to beat Kevin and the alien robots. Next time, I wanted to be able to get Slade when I got the chance. Next time, I didn't even want have so much as a draw. Next time, I didn't want any foul ups on my part."

The youth then let out his umpteenth sigh for the night.

"But what I didn't realize was that I was becoming a man _obsessed_…"

**Author's Note: I'm back! After a long hiatus resulting from personal matters, I am back (or at least I hope)! **

**On another note, I am debating with myself on whether I should post a short-story that describes Icon's origins in detail or if I should keep dropping hints and small pieces throughout the "Ten in One" series until it ****culminates into a 'big reveal', as it were. **


End file.
